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Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese

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last updated Aug 27, 2022 11:55PM

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What Members Thought

Jun 27, 2009 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: _own-home-library, fiction, all-time-favorite, read-in-2010

Every once in awhile I read a book that literally sweeps me up and takes me away to another world. A book that I don't want to put down. That I wish would never end. That takes my breath away. That makes me feel something beyond my own experience. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS.

This is a book that I find difficult to describe adequately but I'm going to try. It's amazing. It's epic. It's ridiculously readable. It's one of the most beautifully written novels I've ever read. The characters come alive ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine rated it really liked it

Shelves: may-june-2009

One might envy Abraham Verghese, who makes the transition from essayist to novelist look easier than it should be. Cutting for Stone will remind readers of the fiction of Salman Rushdie, John Irving (The Cider House Rules), and Ha Jin (A Free Life); it seems likely that the author knows the work of doctor and essayist Richard Selzer (Letters to a Young Doctor) as well. Verghese's first novel is an expansive story well told. If he has a weakness as a novelist, though, as the New York Times Book R

...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2009 Mary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorites

so far, sooooo good.

Excellent story of conjoined identical twins with very different personalities. The difference may or may not have been because of a near-death incident during their birth. Whatever the reason, this difference significantly changes the lives of the twins and those around them.

Warning: this book is very graphic and downright gory in places ( I love anything medical so it didn't bother me in the least, however it may not be for the queasy). ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2009 Julie rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, through most of it. However, there were a lot of times I was annoyed by how long and drawn out everything was. The first section, though it had a lot of interesting stories to tell and interesting background, was far too long for me. And the last section seemed kind of rushed and full of too much information and tried to hard to bring everything to a close. Some pretty heavy handed symbolism throughout. I wasn't too fond of the characterizations, because they all ...more

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Jan 19, 2010 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: chcpl, favorites

Twins Marion and Shiva Stone are born to a nun who was impregnated by the surgeon at an Ethiopian hospital. The nun dies in childbirth, the distraught father abandons his boys. They are raised by the only other two doctors at the hospital. The boy's lives are entwined despite completely different psychological make-ups. Verghese is a doctor and occasionally gets bogged down in the minutae of surgery and doctor-speak. Otherwise a beguiling read. ...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ml-kindle, bookclub

This book took me forever to read. Picked it up and put it down many times. Overall, I found it to be moving and interesting. I enjoyed the medical parts and liked following the medical education of the characters. I feel like there were some holes in the development of the characters and the story itself was a bit uneven. However, this could well be the result of my starts and stops and not necessarily a deficiency of the book itself.

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