Cutting For Stone

There is no real rhyme or reason to the way I select a book. It can be something I see in the bookstore or something I hear about, or see on Amazon.com.  However, picking up Cutting For Stone was the first time I selected a book based on the title only.

I picked another up a book at the library.  I can't recall the name of it.  But on the cover, one of the reviews was by Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting For Stone.  Wow, I thought.  That is SUCH a cool title!! So, I googled it and bingo, I found a gold mine.

The phrase, Cutting for Stone is actually part of the Hippocratic Oath....."I shall not cut for stone", ie.  I won't cut just because I can.  Even more interesting to me - HOW do you write a book based on that little phrase.

The quick summary of this story is - a set of  twins are born, to a nun.

The story begins with the mother of the twins, Sister Mary Joseph Praise and her move from India to Africa, in the 1950's.  It's a long and very interesting journey.  Sister Mary meets Dr. Thomas Stone on the boat. After a harrowing boat ride, she finally ends up in Ethopia at Missing Hopsital.     Hmm, I think to myself...Thomas Stone? Cutting for Stone? Any connection?......YES!!!

For me, the richness of this book does not just come from Sister and Dr. Stone.  It also comes from the varied  characters that are all a part of this story. Each of them is so well developed, that they could probably be characters in their own books and in ways, they are.  Dr. Verghese is a master at making each of these characters come to life,  espceially the twin boys,  Shiva and Marion.

This book is so full of all things that make a book, in my opinion, great.  There is so much detail about each charater that at times, you forget who the main characters are.  So much detail, but all so necessary and so well written that it makes this such an amazing story.  The story goes from India, to Africa and finally to the United States. 

If it is possible to fall in love with a book, for me, this is it. I loved it so much, that I got the unabridged audio CD's for my car and listened during my commute. Completely riveted and so much so that a few times, I sat too long at a traffic light, forgot I was in traffic, or (embarassed to say) drove past my job or..forgot where I was going.

I got lost and caught up in the language.  The turns of phases that made parts of this story like a song.  Not that Dr. V used big words that sent me to a dictionary, but that he puts words together that sum up a feeling or emotion to the point where you can feel it in your bones. The prose style is fluent;  the book becomes alive with words.  This, to me, was a living story that I watched unfurl.  There where parts when my heart skipped a beat, I laughed out loud and yes, cried.  Bawled would be more like it. 

I will admit, the first say, 50-75 are difficult to get through, only because of the detail about Ethopia, during the revolution and Emperor Salasie's reign.  I was reading this and another book and I had to take this one back to the library.  I immediately put myself back on the waiting list and promised myself that I would complete it.  When I got it the second time, and picked up where I left off, I could NOT put it down.  I am so glad that I did.

Please, please, PLEASE, read this magnificent book.