Book Review-Cutting for Stone

I try to be aware of which books are being talked about, although I am sometimes a bit behind in reading those books.  One that has been crossing my path for a while now is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. It is set in Ethiopia during the 1950's-1970's.  Thomas Stone, a surgeon at a mission hospital in Ethiopia (called Missing Hospital by the locals) and his surgical assistant, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, an Indian Carmelite nun, are the parents of Marion and Shiva.  Sister Mary Joseph Praise dies during childbirth.  Thomas Stone-not knowing that Sister was pregnant and distraught at her death-abandons the hospital out of grief, which leaves the twins orphaned.  The two other doctors at the hospital, Hema the gynocologist/obstetrician and Ghosh, the Internist, raise the boys.  The boys grow up within the compound of the hospital.  They are very close growing up.  As they enter puberty, though, a rift appears.  Both eventually go into medicine, Marion goes to medical school, but Shiva learns from Hema. The book goes into great detail about many medical issues and the politics of Ethiopia during the 60's and 70's.  The author also delves into how rich countries help, or not, poorer countries with their donations, and the incredible gap between medicine as practiced in rich countries versus poor countries.  It also explores relationships and how they can alter the trajectory of a life. I enjoyed this book very much and think it would appeal to a broad range of people...there is history, medicine, family relationships, and politics, to name a few of the themes.

Cutting for Stone By Verghese, Abraham 2009-02 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780375414497 Check Our Catalog Awards: Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award (2010), Indies Choice Book Awards (2010) 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. …More

Other books by the same author.

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story By Verghese, Abraham Author Vergehese, Abraham Author Verghese, A. 1995-04 - Vintage 9780679752929 Check Our Catalog Awards: Lambda Literary Awards (1994) Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, the town of Johnson City saw its first AIDS patient in August 1985. Working in Johnson City was Abraham Verghese, a young Indian doctor specializing in infectious diseases who became, by necessity, the local AIDS expert. Out of his experience comes a startling, ultimately uplifting portrait of the American heartland. …More

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