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Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
by Abraham Verghese
Jason's review
bookshelves: for-kindle, 2012, reviewed, thrill-me-chill-me-fulfill-me
Jan 24, 12
bookshelves: for-kindle, 2012, reviewed, thrill-me-chill-me-fulfill-me
Read in January, 2012
The world turns on our every action, and our every omission, whether we know it or not.
It is statistically improbable that I will read a book as good as this one anytime soon. Although I’ll admit it starts off slowly, I found that the depths of this novel are revealed as the protagonist’s life unfolds. Something of a bildungsroman, Cutting for Stone focuses on a pair of twin boys who are born and raised in an African missionary hospital. Their story combines elements of Indian and Ethiopian language and culture, third world medicine, sexual awakening, political revolution, foreign travel, and of course, and easily my favorite, emotional and complex family drama. Written in a style of prose that allows one to forget the author is even there, Verghese really captures what it means to be human—that the frailty of life isn’t distinct from the strength of the spirit, but that one complements the other. ShivaMarion’s story is about as moving as it gets, and I’ve got a few tear stains on my Kindle to prove it.
It is statistically improbable that I will read a book as good as this one anytime soon. Although I’ll admit it starts off slowly, I found that the depths of this novel are revealed as the protagonist’s life unfolds. Something of a bildungsroman, Cutting for Stone focuses on a pair of twin boys who are born and raised in an African missionary hospital. Their story combines elements of Indian and Ethiopian language and culture, third world medicine, sexual awakening, political revolution, foreign travel, and of course, and easily my favorite, emotional and complex family drama. Written in a style of prose that allows one to forget the author is even there, Verghese really captures what it means to be human—that the frailty of life isn’t distinct from the strength of the spirit, but that one complements the other. ShivaMarion’s story is about as moving as it gets, and I’ve got a few tear stains on my Kindle to prove it.
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rated it 3 stars
Jan 25, 2012 10:52am
really?
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I'm not usually one for manipulative sap, but I really didn't find this to be an example of that. I was really super sad when Ghosh died, and even though I didn't like what happened to Shiva at the end, I thought the imagery of the twins coexisting as one was pretty neat. Plus I loooooooved the medical cases--how fascinating!
Nice review-- I'm still working on it. Ghosh is also my favorite character-- just read about his death early this morning and still have the swollen eyes to prove it!
Oh no! Now I'm afraid you'll hate it and will mistrust my opinion from here on out. Pressure is ON!I really love these epic stories that get really deep into the family drama and I especially liked this one 'cause it taught me a thing or two about Ethiopian history. I put this up there with Middlesex in terms of how much I loved it, but then I see you haven't read that one, either. Which means I have very little by which to gauge what your opinion of this would be.
Yea, you'll be held entirely accountable and judged continuously for all 560 pages. I'm glad my recommendation of Nobody's Fool has me on the hook for a mere 549. (These are the hardcover figures for purposes of comparison.)BTW, Middlesex is one of my favorites. So I suspect you're on safe ground, Jason.
Oh, good, now I can breathe a sigh of relief. I thought I had checked that book's page for your rating, but I guess I must have missed it.
This book surprised me. Usually I’d be turned off by what could at first seem as over sentimentality, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL. I wish I could erase it from my memory and experience it again.
YES! I'm glad you said that, cuz I recommended it to Steve and then I panicked cuz maybe it really is a sentiment trap and I was just in an especially good mood the week I read it.But yeah, I loved it, too.
Haha. I just bought it this weekend. By the time I get that far down on my reading list, though, I will have forgotten who to credit or blame. You're both either pre-unappreciated or pre-absolved.
Don't worry, Steve. If you like it, I'll be the first to shout out, "told ya so!"And if you hate it, I will be silent.
Jason wrote: "Don't worry, Steve. If you like it, I'll be the first to shout out, "told ya so!"And if you hate it, I will be silent."
That somehow strikes me as entirely likely.
Oof. I can see this new crowd I'm running with doesn't cut much slack.But how's this: If I end up giving it 3, I'll let the flip of a coin determine which one of you to blame and the other to thank.
I think that's fair. And what do you mean new crowd? Didn't I find Mary through your friends' list? No? Now I'm confused...but what else is new.
I'm often confused, but am getting more and more used to it. Mary is certainly a recent friend, but I honestly can't remember how or through who I met her. In any case, you're all a "new crowd" to me.
Ha! I’ll be tossing and turning ‘til I know which side of the coin I will land on. @ Jason -- I think I just friended both of you in the last few days so I'm the newbie to this crowd :)
Jason, just curious as to why compare this book to Middlesex? I absolutely had the opposite opinion of Middlesex. To compare Cutting for Stone to Middlesex is very baffling. Can you give me some insight?I loved your review. I read the book awhile ago and your review summed it up so well I felt I had just read it again.
Thanks, Sue. I'm not sure exactly why I felt similarly about Middlesex. I'm not really proficient in the "reader's advisory" department, but I think they are both:–multi-generational family sagasThat might be loose, I don't know. And I'm sure there's plenty to disagree with, but I guess that was my thought process.
–involve a lot of plot in foreign countries (and both deal specifically with war in those countries)
–occur, also, in the U.S. but with strong cultural ties to the foreign homeland
–involve taboo sexual relationships
–are a bildungsroman of sorts for the main character
–involve running away and coming back again only to deal with death
–have a current of scientific background/interest running through it...
So glad to find your review. Just finished and sad to have left the characters behind. The thought of Stone being 80 and not operating just kills me. I guess the book reminded me most of how short life ultimately is.
I just finished reluctantly. Because I loved the story and the characters so, I slowed my reading to a crawl over the last chapters. It would be impossible to write a more accurate review. Jason, you took my words!
Thanks for the review. I loved this book, too, for much the same reasons that you did. I've been meaning to read "Middlesex" for a while, but never got around to doing so. Wonder if I should pick it up and give it a go. I just finished "Cutting for Stone" last night though and knowing myself, it will probably take me some time to want to read something else, especially since I am not ready to let go of the characters that so vividly inhabited my world for the past month. Any other recommendations along the same lines?
You mean besides Middlesex? Well, I'm always one to recommend Empire Falls as a book with excellent characters. If you end up reading that one, please let me know what you think of it.
I loved "Empire Falls". Stayed with me a long time. :)However, I did not care about "The Corrections" mostly because I hated all the characters. I will definitely give "Middlesex" a go and will let you know how I like it. Thanks for the recommendation!
