What readers think of Cutting For Stone, plus links to write your own review.

I took my time with this book in order to savor not only the story & characters but also the life lessons revealed. Don't miss these lessons by skimming through this beautiful work! I've not read a book of this magnitude and significance for a long, long time. This is definitely a Must Read for 2009. Book Clubs who are dedicated to reading the finest of books will find the discussion worth every minute spent in reading this book - allow 6 weeks.

Somehow I was drawn to this book; perhaps it was because of my background and interest in medicine. Abraham Verghese has written a wonderful novel filled with the passion only a true physician can describe.

He has taken us back to a time and place where the study and practice of medicine was undertaken because of the hunger for knowledge, the dedication to the patient, and the love of the craft. The doctors and staff of the Missing Hospital quite often learned by doing and found that the patients in the area were not necessarily textbook cases.

Love for medicine is not the only subject that Verghese's novel touches on. He tells a tale of love for God, the strength of family and the plight of the poor in a third world country. Most importantly, he writes of the closeness of twins born connected physically then separated and yet forever remain undivided in mind and spirit.

Cutting for Stone was one of the best novels I've read in a long time.



The narrator is Marion Stone, who begins his life in Ethiopia. His story includes "his"tory of his biological parents, his surrogate parents, his twin brother, his love, his passion for medicine, his witnessing of Ethiopian history and unrest, his move to New York, and his eventual life as a surgeon. There are incredibly complicated relationships between Marion and his twin, Marion and the love of his life, and Marion and his father. Abraham Verghese does an extraordinary job of weaving all of these lives and events together in a way that is believable and so full of the human spirit.



Passion, pain, suffering, guilt, hidden truths, forgiveness and redemption act as cogs that continue to move the story forward with a force that made me look forward to every single page. Abraham is a gifted storyteller. I am sure this novel will not only be a bestseller, but will be among those having a lasting impact on anyone who reads it.

I really enjoyed this book. With Ethiopia as the setting with all its turbulence, a varied and believable cast of characters this book was an adventure. The main characters did not always react to situations as you would expect. Because this is true in life, people don't do as you expect, it made the book very believable. I found myself picking up this book when I was supposed to be doing other things, just to follow the characters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, do not let the size scare you.

Spanning the world of surgical medicine from Ethiopia to the large teaching hospitals of the US, Verghese tells a compelling story of the startling birth of twin boys and the lives they lead through this environment, impacting family, fellow clinicians and patients alike. An engrossing, captivating story, beautifully written....not to be missed !

I really enjoyed this book, although there were parts that I thought might have benefited from tighter editing to even out the pacing. But, the language is rich and lovely and the characters alive and wonderfully complex. I’m sure that this book will be among the rare few that stay with me long after I’ve moved on to the next . . . and the next . . . and the next . . .

"Cutting for Stone" is a gripping story that begins in Ethiopia and unfolds over decades and continents. It is a story of coming of age, of passion and of tragedy, but mostly, it is a story of hope and commitment.

Dr. Verghese's descriptions of places and incidents were so vivid, I felt like I was with the characters. looking over their shoulders and eavesdropping. This is one of the best and most well written books I've read in a long time.

Cutting for Stone is a family saga that has it all - birth and death, sin and forgiveness, love and hate, politics and medicine - wrapped in a balanced and gripping plot involving compelling characters and exotic locations. Verghese tells a great story with none of the overwriting so common to "big" novels. His fiction debut is even better than his outstanding nonfiction (My Own Country). This was the best "curl up with a good book" read I've had in ages.