About this title: A stunning debut novel from the author of "My Own Country": an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, fathers and sons, doctors and patients, exile and home.
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
Date Published: 2009-02-03
ISBN-13:9780375414497ISBN:0375414495
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780375414497. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2009-02-03
ISBN-13:9780739382851ISBN:0739382853
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780739382851. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Random House Audio
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780739382851ISBN:0739382853
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375414497ISBN:0375414495
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Signed by Author The author's first novel. Black cloth binding over rust boards, gilt titles/monogram to front board. Flatsigned on title page. Unread, as new in like DJ in Mylar. 541 pp. read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375414497ISBN:0375414495
Description: New. A stunning debut novel from the author of "My Own Country": an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, fathers and sons, doctors and patients, exile and home. read more
"Cutting for Stone was a great work of historical fiction. It is the story of a boy's life - an Indian/White boy growing up in Ethiopia, at a hospital where his parents had worked, and his adopted parents raised him and his brother. It was a very unusual story, as you learned a lot about medicine, surgery, the issues that people have in Africa with health care, yet at the same time you watched this boy develop and grow.
I thought the book was incredibly touching, and very interesting -especially since I knew nothing about Addis Ababa (other than some stud runners who are from there)or about the conflicts that they have sustained. I also learned why some people are drawn to medicine, how they hear the poetry in the latin names and phrases, and how they enjoy the game of finding an illness through the hints that it leaves. I have to say that I most enjoyed the story of Marion - his relationship with his brother, and the decisions he made and where they lead him.
I gave this book four stars instead of five only because of the time it took me to read the book. Every time I picked it up I enjoyed it, but for some reason I wasn't driven to read it or turn the pages the way I have been with other books. To me, for it to be a five star book it has to drive me AND captivate me.
I borrowed this book from my neighbor, on her recommendation, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I'll be buying this book so that I can read it again."
"I loved Abraham Verghese's memoir My Own Country and was really looking forward to his first novel. Though I wasn't really disappointed, I wasn't exactly thrilled either. The story was interesting, as were the characters and the setting, but it was simply too long, and unnecessarily so. Verghese, being a doctor, described in great detail the surgical procedures that take place in the story (and there are many, as nearly all of the characters are doctors and the settings are all hospitals). In doing so, he gave way too much information and most of the details were not interesting and not crucial. Marion, the protagonist and narrator, is both likeable and believable. As I like to remind my students, if a narrator has proven his reliablility on page ten, page fifty and page one hundred, we probably don't need to test him on page five hundred. Still, as if Verghese was nervous about our ability to believe his narrator, on page five hundred we are provided with approximately five pages of details concerning a liver transplant. At this point, the narrator, who we have established is both reliable and knowledgable (being a surgeon himself), could have simplified the procedure or told us it was complicated without going into all the medical/scientific reasons it was complicated. At one point, I wanted to scream, "I believe you! Liver transplant surgery is complicated! Can we please move on?!"
In spite of the overly verbose and detailed prose, the story is capitivating as are the characters, if you can dig them out of the language."
"I think this is the perfect lesson summation for the whole book. It is said again, in a slightly different way, on page 533, paragraph 2: "The world turns on our every action, and our every omission, whether we know it or not." Such a simple concept with the deepest of truths. It reminds me how well we ought to be able to recognize our conscience (aka, the Spirit), and heed its warnings. One little move this way will lead us down a path, when a slightly different move that way will take us in an entirely different direction; because, one thing leads to another.
The question then begs, what is fate and what is its role, if any, in our lives? I'm a quasi-believer in fate. I'd like to think that our fate is in our hands, rather, and that we create our fate one hundred percent of the time. But there is something reassuring about thinking that, at times (and at times only) we are destined for something, or someone. And that we can't screw it up, no matter what path we choose.
Another lesson that struck a chord with me was on page 523, paragraph 1, line 7: "She had died chasing greatness and never saw it each time it was in her hand, so she kept seeking it elsewhere, but never understood the work required to get it or to keep it." This reminds me of the books "Acres of Diamonds", and "The Alchemist", both profound fables where the main characters go on long journey's to discover riches or happiness when all along they were in their own backyards. As I feel unsettled in my life, I wonder what I am missing out on because I can't seem to appreciate the present.
The sentence immediately following, Marion says, "I'm ashamed to say I felt relief when the word came; only her death could ensure that we didn't keep tearing each other apart for what remained of our lives." How tragic that sounds. Back to the fate thing... I wonder sometimes what the fine balance is between being a creator in our lives and sitting back and allowing that natural flow of things. When life is very hard, is it a sign that you are definitely on the wrong path, or is a test of your will? If the former, it would make sense to take a step back and rethink your plan. If the latter, you must persist beyond all discomfort. But the questions begs, which is true? And how to know for sure?
I give this book an A+; for the enthralling story, the lovable and human characters, the questions it begs, and the lessons it teaches."
"Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is one of the best books I have read in a long long time (OK, Twilight was great, but I'm talking literature now). It is so good, I believe I will be finding a place for on my shelf next to Jane Eyre and Poisonwood Bible. As you know, this is mighty high praise from me.
Here's the description from the inside cover:
A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel - an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and an brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics - their passion for the same woman - that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up with him - nearly destroying him - Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.
An unforgettable journey into one man's remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy and curious beauty of the work of healing others.
Verghese's first novel is full of intricate character detail. The detail, however, is not a distraction. He so beautifully builds his characters and develops their emotional states for the reader. The characters are what propel the story forward. Set against the backdrop of Ethiopia under the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie, the story also deftly delves into the politics of that country in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Verghese is a doctor and much of his novel takes place in a mission hospital. There are many descriptions of medical procedures, diagnoses, and problems. I have not found this to be distracting, but instead very fascinating because they are interwoven so perfectly in the story.
Get thee to the library or the book store, and start reading. I haven't decided yet if I will use this book as a litmus test for being my friend like I do for Poisonwood Bible, but I am leaning in that direction. :) This is by no means light reading. But it is a fascinating, amazing story that will keep you up late."
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