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Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese

Start date: January 1, 2022

Finish date: January 31, 2022

Discussion: Country and Territories

Why we're reading this: Countries/Territories: Ethiopia

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
[close] Countries/Territories: Ethiopia

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

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What Members Thought

Jan 10, 2021 Matthew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, 2021, historical-fiction

Great storytelling! I was captivated throughout.

The first time I heard about this book my brother-in-law and all of his medical school friends were reading it and couldn't say enough about how amazing it was. After reading it and seeing how much of it has to do with medicine and surgery, it makes perfect sense.

I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters and, seeing them deal with the social constructs of mid-20th century Ethiopia. Also, the author pulls no punches when it comes to the he ...more

98 likes · Like · see review

Jan 25, 2019 Cheryl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-reads, global-intrigue, africa, fiction

We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we forget, is the common lot.

Sometimes you run across something in books, when subject, style, and story seem to fight for the forefront. This could either be unnerving, or could cause the sort of curiosity that makes the reader join the fight. I wasn't prepared to be sucked in by the first twenty pages, baffled by page fifty, smacked into page ninety, and then, well We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we forget, is the common lot.

Sometimes you run across something in books, when subject, style, and story seem to fight for the forefront. This could either be unnerving, or could cause the sort of curiosity that makes the reader join the fight. I wasn't prepared to be sucked in by the first twenty pages, baffled by page fifty, smacked into page ninety, and then, well you guess the rest.

Twin brothers born conjoined in Ethiopia, have a nun from India, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, as their birth mother. Imagine the undertones to such a phrase. The story of Sister Mary is vivid and the style goes into sensory modes so that the words are heartfelt and move beautifully on the page. She is a young nun when she sets out on a journey of service to Yemen, when she is met with strife on the ship. There, she encounters a young, white doctor who would change the trajectory of her life. Oh how I wanted the story to stick with Mary Joseph and Stone. But this is not the style of this novel, which veers in time and place.

Marion and Shiva have a miraculous entry into the world and despite their challenging undertakings later in life, melancholy and tragedy continue for them. I wasn't prepared for a tragic ending, so admittedly I felt a great deal of sadness as I closed this novel. Despite their odds, despite the poverty that surrounds them, both brothers practice medicine in some form: Shiva skips medical school but becomes a leading expert in fistula surgery after learning from his gynecologist mother; Marion finishes medical school and completes his residency abroad. Raised by two doctors at their mother's hospital, their parental abandonment is supplemented by the love they receive from their two parents: Hema and Ghosh (both doctors). They grow up in a shroud of medicine: helping to save lives and helping to invent cures. There are lengthy pages of medical instructions and explanations, including detailed descriptions of surgical scenes (in my humble opinion, this could have been 200 pages lighter). Very different and yet very alike, the twins have different outlooks on life, relationships, and socializing.

Injera, Ethiopa's Traditional Bread

Later, when Marion feels alone and lost, food becomes a way to recall the heart's cravings, a way to meet people from his homeland, a way to test his estranged father. Set during the Ethiopian and Eritrean Conflicts during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, there is angst and betrayal intertwined. Of course, there is always a sexualized woman (or two) involved. Tsige is a woman who seems real, a woman you can find in most conflict and poverty-stricken areas, a woman who later becomes a success story of her own. Genet, who grows up with the brothers and becomes an integral part of their lives (I'm not providing spoilers), is also a traumatized, stoic woman one also comes across in such a setting. Marion's obsession with her sets the stage to explain his strangeness, his desire for love in the wrong places, and his estrangement from self. While Shiva holds himself and his desires close, and in some way seems to shun the world, Marion seeks his worth in others.

I needed a book to stay awake with and wake up to, a story that would keep me wanting to return to the pages, to the characters who had now come alive. This book was it. Despite my frustrations at certain elongated sections, the stories and struggles of these characters were deeply felt. There were moments when I was rooted in the atmospheric telling of Missing, present with the doctors and patients; and other moments when I was charged with angst and empathy for characters forced to leave home and live as exiles in diaspora. It's certainly a story of accomplishing the extraordinary and yet also a realization of the condemnation and fulfillment of love and life. ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars, favorites, medicine

Loved it. Wonderful book.

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2017 Laura H L rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

Great story - this book was recommended to me a few years ago and I finally got around to reading it. Appreciated learning more about Ethiopian culture and history. The medical setting seemed authentic and interesting as they contrasted Ethiopia with a Bronx hospital in America. Good drama, believable relationships.

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