Cutting for Stone- Abraham Verghese

Reading through Cutting for Stone, I wished multiple times that I had bought it. I might still do it. In my opinion, Cutting for Stone is not a book that you read in one sitting. It’s a sprawling literary novel that spans 50+ years and the lifetime of the narrator, Marion Stone. It took me awhile to read, but in this case that should say nothing for how much I enjoyed it.

Marion Stone is brought into this world with his conjoined twin at a small hospital in Africa. His father, surgeon Thomas Stone, who did not know the twins’ mother was pregnant, retreats immediately upon their birth, while their mother, a nun, dies. The twins, conjoined by a “fleshy tube” at the head are separated, but they share a connection throughout their lives. They are raised by two doctors at the African hospital, and from here, we read about Marion’s life, his childhood in Africa, internship in New York, and onward.

I highly recommend this book. I cannot in good faith really call it as a whole a page turner, because there were very few moments in the narrative where I felt that I absolutely must keep reading. However, in this case that is not a bad thing. The prose is beautiful, the relationships realistic, and characters extremely relatable. I feel as though I genuinely care about Marion Praise Stone and his family. And that is the mark of a truly fantastic writer.

At the beginning I admit that I was concerned that this would be another Tiger’s Wife, it was very slow starting, but as I got more and more into the book, I found myself invested in the story, in the relationships in Marion’s life, and how he would proceed after each event and coincidence occurs. Halfway through I was legitimately impressed, and at the end I was riveted. That ending. The last 75-100 pages of this book are where it becomes a page turner. I want someone else to read this if only so I have someone to talk with about the ending. I feel like to even make a statement like that is a bit of a spoiler, so I won’t elaborate. But seriously, read this.

5- I can say with confidence that the next time I need a few extra dollars to push me into Amazon’s free shipping bracket, this book will be added to my cart.

Next up: some fun/ slightly embarrassing reading with the latest in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series (the book series True Blood is based off of), Dead Reckoning