Oh. My. Gosh. “Cutting for Stones,” by Abraham Verghese, is one of those books that will stay with me for a very long time. When I finished it, I felt like I had parted ways with friends.
First of all, what comes to mind when you hear the word, “Ethiopia?” Skinny, black skeletons with distended stomachs? This book shows a different view of the country, during the decades between 1950 and present. The setting is a mission hospital, serving those locals who need medical attention and surgery. It is written in the first person through the eyes of Marion Stone, who was born at the hospital with his twin brother and adopted by two doctors after the death of their mother at birth and the abandonment of their birth father. As Marion reconstructs the history of his parents, as well as his own history, he learns to view the entire world in a different light- a light that is much different than he had anticipated.
The twins’ birth mother was a nun who fell in love with a doctor. Once you come to know her, there is no room to judge her. Thomas Stone, the twins’ father, comes to his own realizations about his own self when his grown sons need him to save their lives. Marion and Shiva Stone, the twins, are connected to one another so that they feel as if they are one entitiy – MarionShiva. Yet as they grow, the become very different men, yet remain exactly as one. There are the adoptive parents, the friends of the family . . . the intricacies of this story just go on and on.
I found this to be an outstanding book, one that I could buy and read over and over throughout my life. As always, I am very grateful to have been born in America. Again, I am amazed at the way others are living in other parts of the world, simultaneous to my own life, and how different our existences are. And, as I am always excited to have learned something new, I am excited to have learned that there is more to Ethiopia than famine.
I LOVED this one!
I read this book a while ago on a plane and loved it. You’re so right – this is a book that stays with you for a while. In a way it reminded me of A Thousand Splendid Suns, or Kite Runner. I think because all three were first-person stories about men that spanned several decades and trial and tribulations that I can’t even begin to imagine.