Cutting for Stone



I finished reading this about two weeks ago and it is still sitting with me. I still think about the characters and wonder how they are holding up. I worry about Dr. Stone's relationship with his son. And how is Marion's mother?

It is a story of Ethiopia's past while following twins born joined at head. Crazy, huh?
Family and friends work at the mission hospital and the author is able to transform medical procedures into poetry.
I'll stop there.
I almost hate giving a brief recap because a general overview actually makes the tale sound unappealing to me. In fact, when my mother recommended it to me I was all, "Meh."
Nothing about it made me want to start it.
I'm not really into African history and politics. And medical stuff? No way.

But I trust her recommendations. She knows my reading tastes.
So I picked it up and eventually could never put it down.
It was amazing.
Verghese is truly skilled at gently birthing each character from nothing. His simple writing techniques have you joining a character on a plane ride home and by the end of the flight you understand why she could never marry him and how complicated the relationship with her parents is.
Ethiopia's landscape and political duress also become characters of their own as does surgical procedures and cultural traditions.
You'll just have to trust me on this one.
It is a journey of a book.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Depending on who you are, top five.
May 26, 2011 at 8:48 AM
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