Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese
various versions!
genre: relationships, medicine, life

I started out reading this on Mary's Kindle, then I listened to an audiobook version until I had to return it to the library, then I finished it in print from the Scott County Library. Whew! It was a more dense read than most of what I've done this fall / winter. But it was worth the while! What an intriguing story. It's too hard for me to summarize. At one point, Louie asked me about it and I had trouble describing it. A nun from India and an English doctor from ??? a strange childhood conceiving twins while he was in a drunken state. Sister Mary Joseph Praise dying in childbirth while Doctor Stone tries to save her and kill the babies that he didn't even know about.

And on it goes - Ethiopia, America, rich and poor, politics and medicine, friends and enemies. I think that Genet's storyline was the hardest for me, especially her callous betrayal of Marion. Hema and Ghosh were amazing characters, with frailties and strength intertwined. The ending was poignant - Marion had to survive, because he was telling the story. Absolutely amazing book.


From a post I had started that was still in "draft" form almost two years later:
by Abraham Verghese

some audioCDs (Dakota County Library) - read by Sunil Malhotra
genre: "general fiction" - on the back of the CD case. Life, love, relationships, medicine

The above is from 1/22/11. I just re-listened to the audiobook (10/8/15). The relationship between Marion and Shiva (identical "mirror" twins) is what stood out the most for me this time. The differences between them and their decisions are so stark. This is so beautifully written, but at times absolutely horrible (the operating theatre has some pretty gruesome moments). This is an amazing book. I had forgotten the specifics of the ending. Marion's phone call seems almost anti-climatic.