Just Finished, But Didn't Want it to End!!!

Cutting for Stone is a Treat!  

Here's a summary of Abraham Verghese's novel courtesy of the New York Times Sunday Book Review, Feb 6 2009 (I'll leave the book reviewers to write the summary, but I'm happy to offer my thoughts afterwards!):

"The plot of this big, dense book is fairly straightforward. Marion and Shiva Stone are born one dramatic afternoon in 1954 in Addis Ababa, the same day their mother — a nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise — dies of complications from her hidden pregnancy. The boys are conjoined at the skull, yet separated at birth; they are raised by Dr. Kalpana Hemlatha, a forceful woman known as Hema, and Dr. Abhi Ghosh, both immigrants from Madras and both doctors at the hospital where the boys’ natural parents also worked. Missing Hospital, it’s called: “Missing was really Mission Hospital, a word that on the Ethiopian tongue came out with a hiss so it sounded like ‘Missing.’ ” They grow up amid the political turmoil of Ethiopia (its actual chronology altered slightly by Verghese to suit his fictional purposes), and in 1979 Marion flees, first to Nairobi and finally to New York, where he qualifies as a surgeon. Shiva, too, goes into medicine, specializing in treating vaginal fistula, for which work he is acclaimed in this very newspaper, a sure sign of his renown. Almost supernaturally close as children, the brothers become more and more distant as the novel progresses; they are dramatically reunited at its end — through the mysterious agency of the long-vanished Thomas Stone."

This summary doesn't spoil the story whatsoever, and I encourage you to read and enjoy it.
The following brief interview with Verghese will help explain the inspiration of his novel:



Cutting for Stone was a memorable treat: I found the language rich and flowing, the imagery enchanting and insightful. As a general rule, I do not mark a book. I know that markings distract subsequent readers, and so I really avoid this practice. However, in this novel, I just couldn't help but highlight a few passages that stood out for me. Here are a few lines that I really want to remember:

On the topic of death, what insight:  "...the tragedy of death had to do entirely with what was left unfulfilled." and as the novel's father figure struggles to impart the last of his insights to his son:  "He was teaching me how to die, just as he'd taught me how to live." and further along, "Death is the cure for all disease."

How true is this statement?: "Life too is like that. You live it forward, but understand it backward."

"Guilt leads to righteous action, but rarely it is the right action."

"Knowledge shall be promoted by frequent exercise
Art polishes and improves nature
Fortune is a fair but fickle mistress
Yesterday misspent cant be recalled
Vanity makes beauty contemptible
Wisdom is more valuable than riches."

And wouldn't our world be so different if we would live this idea more in our actions: "How we treat the least of our brethren, how we treat the peasant suffering with volvulus, that's the measure of this country. Not our fighter planes or tanks or how big the Emperor's palace happens to be."

On the lighter side, I caught myself laughing out loud when Matron chides Dr. Stone's cursing during a medical emergency: "Custody of the tongue." I have never heard this reproach, but it was memorable for me.

The following article written by Verghese explains how the author's work mirrored some of his personal experiences:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/11/abraham-verghese-ethiopia-coup-1973

I hope you discover this work, and enjoy it as much as I have!