Cutting for Stone - Books Babb.no

Hardcover, 541 pages

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:: 978-0-375-41449-7
OCLC Number:: 981602865

(2 reviews)

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 …

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. (front flap)

18 editions

Geoff reviewed Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Review of 'Cutting for Stone' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

This is a beautifully and confidently written book, which I found refreshing. The author knows exactly what he wants to say and says it briskly and directly. It is full of minutiae that I found engrossing. The overall story is genuinely moving if a little meandering. Verghese takes his time in the mind of each character and they are alive and believable.

But I can’t shake my discomfort at the treatment of the Genet character. She’s the closest thing to a villain here and yet her supposed crimes don’t ring true. So many writers use the autonomy and sexual freedom of young women as a proxy for evil. Here it seems to be the primary motivating evil of the plot. I understand why Marion is hurt but the blame does not rest on Genet. At least not in any significant way. The author seems to forget that Genet is as …

This is a beautifully and confidently written book, which I found refreshing. The author knows exactly what he wants to say and says it briskly and directly. It is full of minutiae that I found engrossing. The overall story is genuinely moving if a little meandering. Verghese takes his time in the mind of each character and they are alive and believable.

But I can’t shake my discomfort at the treatment of the Genet character. She’s the closest thing to a villain here and yet her supposed crimes don’t ring true. So many writers use the autonomy and sexual freedom of young women as a proxy for evil. Here it seems to be the primary motivating evil of the plot. I understand why Marion is hurt but the blame does not rest on Genet. At least not in any significant way. The author seems to forget that Genet is as alive, free, and human as his protagonist. Anyway this bugged me early on and only got worse in the final act.

Still though a powerful touching book.

Francis Augusto Medeiros-Logeay

rated it

May 24, 2014

Subjects

Physicians -- Fiction
Brothers -- Fiction
Fathers and sons -- Fiction
Ethiopia -- Fiction
Bronx (New York, N.Y.) -- Fiction