Hi
Everyone,Cutting For Stone explores the lives of a memorable cast of characters which offers insight into the world of medicine with precise and sometimes too much detail about how doctors work dramatizing the movements of heart and mind.
Narrated by Marion Stone, the story begins before Marion and his twin brother, Shiva are born in Addis Abab’s Missing Hospital (a mispronunciation of “Mission Hospital”) with the illicit, years-in-the making romance between their parents, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a beautiful Indian nun (really?) and Thomas Stone, a brash brilliant British surgeon. After meeting on a boat out of Madras; Mary follows Thomas to Ethiopia and to Missing, where they work side by side for seven years as nurse and doctor. After Mary dies while giving birth to the twins – a harrowing, traumatic scene on the operating table-Thomas vanishes, and Marion and Shiva grow up with only a dim sense of identity and a deep hostility toward their father for what they see as an act of betrayal and cowardice.
The twins are raised by Hema and Ghosh, two Indian doctors who also work at Missing and shower Marion and Shiva with love, nurture, family and their intense interest in medicine. The twins are so close that Marion, even as a boy, thinks of them as one: ShivaMaion which ironically surfaces at the end of the novel when Marion must trust his life to the two men he trusts least in the world; through Shiva’s self sacrifice Marion and Shiva become one again, a family saga in the context of medicine. Is blood thicker than water?
Through each of the character’s inner conflicts I felt as though I were with these people, whether eating dinner which was a wonderful part of the book and the sensory descriptions of all the food or participating in the surgeries which was at times exhaustive and gory in the scientific descriptions of the organs being cut or sewn together. Verghese attention to detail bogged the book down especially in the middle was a common complaint for all.
I felt that many comparisons and contrasts made this book interesting. For instance comparing and contrasting the different styles of doctors; Marion and Thomas so precise and intellectual and Ghosh, Hema and Shiva so intuitive and instinctive. I mentioned that I felt the women in the novel all seemed to be victims of their environment and relationships as well as strong women to endure mutilations, punishments, misunderstandings. This author deals with wrong doings through punishments, whether through Sister Mary Praise’s excruciating painful childbirth and death to Rosina mutilating Genets eyes and genitals and then hanging herself, Hema’s blaming Marion for what happened to Genet as a child and favored Shiva then Verghese kills Shiva to punish Hema. I sense this pattern throughout the novel and am wondering if it is a cultural belief of the author?
Some of our favorite quotes from the book include:
“Life, is like that, you live it forward but
understand it backward.”
“Wasn’t
that the definition of home? Not where
you are from, but where you are wanted?”
“The key to your happiness is to own your
slippers, own who you are, own your family, own the talents you have and the ones you don’t. Not only our actions, but also our omissions,
become our destiny. “
“11th commandment – “thou shalt not operate on the day of a
patient’s death”.
“What treatment in an emergency is
administered by ear? words of comfort.” Thomas Stone
While reading this book I felt I was actually living within in it for brief periods of time. The vivid pictures of the settings from the voyage from Madras to the Mission Hospital operating theatre 3 and the hopeful arrival to America and then the return to Africa, Cutting For Stone is a novel where history, landscape and accidents of birth and death conspire to create a story of such detail and depth. This book is one of our all time favorites. Thanks to Jodi’s daughter for recommending this read to our club. A beautiful book. Beauty is the best way to draw a reader into a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a warm cozy shawl to enjoy one of our best pastimes – reading.
The Act of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is our October reading selection.See below for special meeting place and celebration:
The 10th Anniversary of the
Women of Wisdom Book Club
The
dinner will take place on Tuesday,
October 15th at 6:00 p.m. at Rose Haven Bed and Breakfast in the Main Dining Room on N. Main St. in Butler, a central
location. The cost is $26/person which includes taxes, gratuity
will be on our own. We will pay
individually the night of the dinner and you may tip according. This seems the
best way to handle the expenses. The
menu is as follows:
Homemade
soup with biscuits
Salad served with
breadsticks
Burgundy Beef Roast and
Lemon pepper Roasted Chicken Breast
Homemade
dressing/stuffing for the chicken breast
Baked Potato
Green Beans with ham and
onion cream sauce
Relishes on the table
(truffles and gourmet nuts)
Assorted Rolls and
biscuits with dinner
Dessert- Either cheesecake or homemade pie (we must
make this choice as a group)
Dessert is also served
with tidbit desserts on the table
Beverages: Coffee – 2 types
Teas – 15 selections on the table
Iced Tea
Water
BYOW –( Bring your own wine ) $2 corkage
fee/bottle (state regs)
Each person will leave
with a small gift of hand lotion and chocolates
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