Cutting for Stone by Abraham VergheseMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sometimes, I read a novel and even though I close the book, for a few seconds I am still in the world of the book. It is magical. I just closed the cover of Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and I am still in Ethiopia. This is a stunning, multilayer novel.
Co-joined twins are born to a Carmelite nun from India working in a hospital outside of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia during the reign of Hailie Selassie. Their story unfolds like a flower through political intrigue, betrayal, abandonment and great gifts of courage and love. The narrator, Marion Stone, one of the twins, describes his boyhood days in the hospital of his birth, his painful coming of age and his forced exile from Ethiopia.
Though the book is over 500 pages, every passage is beautifully written. The characters are vibrant and the stories weave in and out; medicine, Politics, mystery, humor, strong women, noble men, heroes and villains. It is all there. I find it hard to write about this book without giving away parts of the story, but I will carry the images with me for a long time. Read it and let’s talk about it.
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Karen, I just finished Cutting For Stone and I also was moved. One of the many gifts it offers is a look into a world and a culture totally unlike our own. I listened to it on tape, but now I want to read it, partly to experience it again, and partly to experience it differently.
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