September 21, 2010
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is a great book. It had been recommended to me over and over, so a few months ago I bought it, looked at the cover and the thickness, and put it in my pile of books to read. I felt no draw either from the title or from the cover of the paperback edition I'd ordered, and at almost 700 pages I wanted to clear my desk of other (slimmer) books first.
Waiting to read Cutting for Stone was a mistake. I am only happy that I didn't wait any longer. Once I started reading it, I just could not put it down. It was enjoyable from the first page through the last, with enjoyment joined by tears, laughter, and a sense of utter gratitude for the words spreading out before me. As satisfied as I was by the ending (all the loose ends were tied up, all the lost dreams were revived or finally put to rest, and feelings hidden for years were set free to flourish and to nourish) I didn't want this book to end. I wanted Cutting for Stone to go on and on. Sequel, please?
Cutting for Stone tells the story of twins Marion and Shiva, raised by a pair of doctors in a mission-funded hospital in Addis Ababa. The influences on the lives of the boys is diverse, from Scottish to English to Indian to Eritrean to Ethiopian to Italian. Even the United States plays a role, with its funding dollars and the dream it holds out of a beautiful blonde and her thug brother who holds a gun to a newly-arrived immigrant's head and cries, "If you don't screw my sister, I'll kill you." When Marion actually does arrive in the United States, he comes face to face with a gun but the circumstances are slightly different than he imagined.
The novel takes place in locales as diverse as Madras in India, Aden in Yemen, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, a medical school in Edinburgh, a sanatorium in the hills of Nilgiri, a rebel's cave in Eritrea, and a sad sack but effective hospital the Bronx, New York. I cannot give away the plot, not even its opening devices, because the discovery of what unites all the characters and what propels them forward, is too precious an experience to spoil.
The characters are simply marvelous, each and every one, and each in a singular manner. From Marion and Shiva to their parents (all four of them) to the minor characters of priest/entrance guardian Gebrew and American donor Eli Harris, the characters created by Verghese are distinct and unforgettable. Each one, big and small, has role to play in the lives of the boys, and thus in the final outcome of their story, and of the novel. As the narrator Marion says, "The world turns on our every action, ad our every omission, whether we know it or not."
The number of times I underlined sentences in this book is proven by the now dull point of my pencil. There are so many wonderful visuals, describing the beauty of Ethiopia, the heat of India, and the ruggedness of Eritrea. There are lovely narrative musings from Marion about surgery, brotherhood, sex, and destiny, and powerful and meaningful quotes from the other characters about life. "Make something beautiful of your life" could have sounded saccharine but as illustrated by the life of Sister Mary Joseph Praise, it works, both for everyone in the book who knew her and for those of us who read about her. When Hema, transplant from India, finally finds in Addis Ababa that she is valued as a doctor, she thinks to herself, "Wasn't that the definition of home? Not where you are from but where you are wanted?", her words are both wise and a premonition of events to come. And there is good advice offered for all, whether ER surgeon or mother or friend, in the "old saw" taken from medical school rhetoric, "What treatment is offered by ear in an emergency? ....Words of Comfort."
The novel is also full of fascinating and surprisingly easy-to-follow medical scenes. There are episodes when diseases are diagnosed and then treated, and detailed descriptions of medical procedures. Heart-wrenching scenes demonstrate both the successes and failures of medical intervention, and the maturity required to understand when medicine can do no more for the patient: "Thou shall not operate on the day of a patient's death." This is the so-called "eleventh commandment of surgery" and another sentence I underlined in my copy of the book.
Verghese is both a writer and a doctor, and something of the attending physician's attention to detail, cause and effect, and prognosis comes through in his relaying of this very singular family history. As unique and even bizarre many of points and plots of the story may be, in Verghese's hands and the narrator's words, the story is absolutely straightforward and genuine. What could have turned into a part fantasy/part mythology, is a very realistic novel about very extraordinary people finding themselves in very difficult circumstances. Even in the darkest of scenes, the light of humanity glows in the ever present potential for compassion and fortitude that lies within all of the characters, and indeed, within all of us readers.
"Life is beautiful and horrible" as Hema says. What else can we do but enjoy the moments of beauty and survive the horrible through the help of family and community, while also taking take responsibility for ourselves? The characters in Cutting for Stone illustrate what it takes to live a good life, and will inspire its readers to try.
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