Cutting for Stone in Around the World

Jun 05, 2013 Astrid Lim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, second-hand, africa, dramatic, family, book-club

One of the best novels about love, life and family, with a background of medical setting. From Ethiopia to Bronx, this book tells a story of the love for family, God, siblings, soul mate, even for the country. The details about medicine, illness, surgery and all kind of medical stuff are very interesting, not boring at all. It feels like watching Grey's Anatomy but without the pathetic Meredith's stories :)) I'm gonna recommend this book to all drama enthusiasts, especially to my doctor friends ...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Friederike Knabe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Abraham Verghese, medical doctor and accomplished non-fiction writer demonstrates his outstanding ability to combine vivid imagination and deep professional expertise and humanitarian commitment into a novel that grabs you from the first pages. Dramatic, emotionally charged and beautifully written, the story rarely of the people, the culture and the historical upheavals that Ethiopia went through during the later years of Emperor Haile Selassi's reign and what followed diminishes its hold on th Abraham Verghese, medical doctor and accomplished non-fiction writer demonstrates his outstanding ability to combine vivid imagination and deep professional expertise and humanitarian commitment into a novel that grabs you from the first pages. Dramatic, emotionally charged and beautifully written, the story rarely of the people, the culture and the historical upheavals that Ethiopia went through during the later years of Emperor Haile Selassi's reign and what followed diminishes its hold on the reader until well after the book is closed.

Much has been said in close to 700 amazon reviews and the plot such as it is does not need to be repeated. For me the individual characters are exquisitely depicted; they come to life off the page and will stay in my mind for some time. It is a collection of people, rich in their individuality and diversity, yet fundamentally also connected through deep emotional bonds and a common fate, having been displaced into another geographical space at some time in their lives and bridging their own traditions with those of their environment. Marion, the primary narrator, is the more tentative and deeply reflective of the identical twins, while Shiva appears to carry autistic aspects in his personality. He is the action person: mirror images in many ways. Marion's life's path is also consistent with his character, even when one wonders sometimes about his reaction or single-mindedness in some specific circumstances. Coincidences can at times seem a bit too convenient to be probable. But these and others are only very minor irritants in the rich, insightful and overall powerful novel. While much medical details are given that might lead some readers to skipping a few pages here and there, I found them illuminating and essential, especially in the context of the work at "Missing" (the hospital in Addis).

Having had a strong personal interest in Ethiopia and its history for quite some time, I was reluctant to read the novel, concerned that I would find fault with authenticity and historical detail. Yet, I did not need to worry. Having also spent time in different parts of the country and in Eritrea, I can only marvel at Verghese's sensitive and realistic portrayal of the people, the culture and the historical upheavals that Ethiopia went through during the later years of Emperor Haile Selassi's reign and what followed. ...more

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May 17, 2010 Toni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: multi-cultural, general-fiction, ethiopia, africa

A book this well written is rare, and definitely to be cherished. You can read any synopsis of Cutting for Stone, and know it could be an absorbing story, but only by reading it yourself can you appreciate the remarkable talent Abraham Verghese has. Each word has been carefully chosen, and if much of the medical terminology left me clueless, I was nevertheless completely enthralled from the opening paragraph to the last.

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Dec 29, 2009 Hardcover Hearts rated it really liked it

This book was excellent. Mom recommended it to me after she had read it twice. This novel reminded me of Shantaram, the Poisonwood Bible and other such lush and dense reads. The characters were just wonderful and the settings were captivating.

Highly recommended!

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Apr 30, 2010 Cathy rated it liked it

I like historical fiction if it is rendered fairly accurately and this book started off pretty well.

SPOILER ALERT

The second half seemed to veer wildly off-course and into implausible coincidence and bogged down in surgical detail and finished with a soap operatic ending. A good editor might have steered this book into a better direction. However the political background of Ethiopia, the state of medical services in that country, issues of female mutilation and some of medical detail in the firs ...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Teelei rated it it was amazing

Really enjoyed this one although find reading about medical situations makes me more anxious than your average book. You could definitely tell that the author was medically trained.
One of those stories that you find yourself mulling over while/after reading and bringing up to other people.

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