Cutting for Stone: A novel |  | Author: Abraham Verghese
Publisher: Knopf
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $15.55
as of 11/22/2009 15:51 CST details
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New (37) Used (23) Collectible (7) from $13.24
Seller: zp_books
Rating:  183 reviews
Sales Rank: 385
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 0375414495
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780375414497
ASIN: 0375414495
Publication Date: February 3, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.
An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 183
 very moving November 12, 2009
Robert J. Piro (Houston, Tx USA)
read the other reviews to get a feel for what this book is about. I found it extrordinarly moving and actually wept as the book came to a close----which I haven't done since I read Young Lions 40 years ago. It provides an inciteful view of Ethiopia and its modern history and expecially of its people. And the doctors (there are about 5) are the types we need more of=------dedicated to their patients and uninterested in money. You'll think about the protagonists long after you finish the book
loved it November 8, 2009
J. Sullivan (Bangor, ME United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a pretty picky reader these days. I used to finish every book I started, but there are so many books and so little time that I don't do that anymore. Having said that, I loved this book. I will admit that for awhile I wasn't sure where it was going but that was a minor blip. Well worth finishing and I am recommending it to my friends who are serious readers - something I don't do lightly.
 A Diamond in the Rough October 31, 2009
N. A. Marcus (Oakton, Virginia)
Cutting for Stone is alternately brilliant and quite contrived. Non medical
readers may be overwhelmed by the torrid surgical and medical detail, much of which
is necessary to the plot, but as a physician myself I applaud the way in which the art of medicine
is exemplified in the character development. There are more than a few good pointers here for any student of medicine.
The early chapters in particular attest to the writer's skill in evoking life in Ethiopia.
Paradoxically, for a first person narrative this was the time when the narrator was a mere child
and could have no such recollection(especially of his own birth)!
The use of twins as a plot device I found unnecessary and derivative; the novel describes a vast sweep of time & space
without resorting to "coincidences" of that nature. Any astute reader is ready for the circular conclusion common
to twin stories, and for what? Even without the twin motif, we have here a novel steeped in issues of politics,
healthcare, poverty, disease, world history...not to mention coming of age, families, traditions. Whew, that would have been enough, and I think better.
Excellent Read! October 29, 2009
Love to Travel (Northern Virginia)
CUTTING FOR STONE pulled me in early and kept me wanting to know more and more about the characters & their stories. A few scenes were emotionally hard to read, but were necessary to the story & its themes. It's an excellent choice for a book club discussion or personal reflection.
Literature at its Finest! October 28, 2009
Eclectic Booklover (New England)
Cutting for Stone is a multi-generational family saga that transports the reader all over the world: Africa, India, Europe, and the United States (New York City). The story has a heavy dose of medical science, often graphic in detail, but extremely interesting. Much of the action in this story takes place in hospital settings, beginning at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ethiopia is also in the midst of a revolution.
Marion and Shiva Praise Stone are conjoined identical twins, born to a nun from Madras, named Sister Mary Joseph Praise. Sister Mary Joseph Praise bled to death giving birth, and the father of the twins, Thomas Stone, had not even been aware that she was pregnant. Thomas Stone is a British surgeon, who cannot deal with all that has just happened, and as a result, he flees the country.
The infants are successfully separated at the head, and are raised by Hema and Ghosh, two Indian physicians at the hospital where they were born. As boys the two children were close friends, as adults often rivals. Shiva was the quieter of the two brothers, and almost socially inept. Both Marion and Shiva go on to become physicians like their birth father, and the parents who raised them.
Cutting for Stone was one of those rare books that left a lasting impression. I took much longer reading this 500++ book, than most any other book I've read for several reasons. I did not want the story to end, and I was afraid that I would gloss over some beautiful passages if I hurried through this book. The novel has beautifully drawn characters, great scenery and sense of place, and a bittersweet ending, that I did not expect. This is one book that is not to be missed, and it is sure to be one of the best books I've read this year. (This review is based both on the printed version and the audio book, which was beautifully narrated by: Sunil Malhotra). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 183
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