Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I totally got into this book. It has everything good lit has to offer - unusual settings, explosive characters, a dose of foreign language sprinkled throughout, and last but not least, medicine! Detailed, terminology rich, with symptoms and procedures vividly described. Compassionate, intense medicine, with every patient standing in front of you, as if you were the one examining or performing a procedure. There is joy of success and tragedy of passing, and ultimately, a constant search for a way to practice the best way you can - every day you are out there.

Just as the action moved away from the vivid descriptions of Addis and I was about to consider the whole thing a done deal, I was in for another surprise - the action moved to, of all places, the Bronx, in New York City (my current stomping ground, although, I have to say with some relief, not the exact part); after that, the action and tension did not relent until the very closure. I find it ineviatble that novels accelerate toward the end, losing detail, whole stretches of the time continuum getting omitted to move the story toward closure. With Cutting For Stone, this effect is lessened due to the metiticulously described scenes of surgery, hospital activities and goings on in New York City. Years do pass faster as the protagonists grow and age, but it does impart the effect of a continuum with a few time-freeze frames rather than an unfortunate acceleration.

I am a slower reader that I would like, who also gravitates toward 400-500 page novels with elaborate plots and descriptive language. Fortunately for me, lately I've been blessed with a string of pretty outstanding fiction that pays you back and then some for the time invested in reading. Overall, an excellent book that I was happy to receive from a generous friend and to share with another friend when I finished.

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