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laurieb755 's review for:
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
To know what this story is about start with the description listed on StoryGraph, which I believe comes from the back cover of the paperback version of the book. Perhaps my comments will deepen that description.
This story unfolds mostly from the perspective of Marion Stone, the older of the twins but only older due to a fluke in how they were delivered. Marion and his identical twin brother Shiva grow up alongside Genet, the daughter of Rosina, one of the many who work at Missing. The twins will be raised by Hema, an obstetrician, and Gosh, an internist turned surgeon, a doctor of many trades. They will also be raised by everyone who works at Missing, a hospital run by Matron and funded by Baptist groups in the States. Missing, which originally was Mission but there's no counting for pronunciation so Missing it became, was home to a group of dedicated doctors and people who cared for anyone that came to their doors, from the poor to the wealthy to the political.
This is the story of Marion and Shiva and the people that surrounded them throughout their lives. For Shiva that meant those at Missing and in Ethiopia. For Marion that meant much the same with the addition of seven years spent in the United States. As all autobiographical stories do, this one begins with the story of Sister Mary Joseph Praise, their mother, and Thomas Stone, their father, for there is no autobiography without the parents who have brought the child into the world. Take note, that sentence alone will prove true but not true…
Thomas Stone will have an outsize influence on his sons despite their being raised by Hema and Gosh, who were both influenced by Thomas Stone. All their lives will unfold against the backdrop of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie, Mengistu–a dictator, an attempted coup, and attempted hijackings of Ethiopian Airlines jets in protest of the attempt to annex Eritrea. One item to note: Ethiopia was invaded by Italian forces that wound up ruling the country from 1936 to 1941, leaving an indelible Italian imprint on aspects of Ethiopian life.
Marion's story thoroughly absorbed me; Abraham Verghese (https://www.abrahamverghese.org/), a doctor in his own right, has written an immersive gripping story.
This story unfolds mostly from the perspective of Marion Stone, the older of the twins but only older due to a fluke in how they were delivered. Marion and his identical twin brother Shiva grow up alongside Genet, the daughter of Rosina, one of the many who work at Missing. The twins will be raised by Hema, an obstetrician, and Gosh, an internist turned surgeon, a doctor of many trades. They will also be raised by everyone who works at Missing, a hospital run by Matron and funded by Baptist groups in the States. Missing, which originally was Mission but there's no counting for pronunciation so Missing it became, was home to a group of dedicated doctors and people who cared for anyone that came to their doors, from the poor to the wealthy to the political.
This is the story of Marion and Shiva and the people that surrounded them throughout their lives. For Shiva that meant those at Missing and in Ethiopia. For Marion that meant much the same with the addition of seven years spent in the United States. As all autobiographical stories do, this one begins with the story of Sister Mary Joseph Praise, their mother, and Thomas Stone, their father, for there is no autobiography without the parents who have brought the child into the world. Take note, that sentence alone will prove true but not true…
Thomas Stone will have an outsize influence on his sons despite their being raised by Hema and Gosh, who were both influenced by Thomas Stone. All their lives will unfold against the backdrop of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie, Mengistu–a dictator, an attempted coup, and attempted hijackings of Ethiopian Airlines jets in protest of the attempt to annex Eritrea. One item to note: Ethiopia was invaded by Italian forces that wound up ruling the country from 1936 to 1941, leaving an indelible Italian imprint on aspects of Ethiopian life.
Marion's story thoroughly absorbed me; Abraham Verghese (https://www.abrahamverghese.org/), a doctor in his own right, has written an immersive gripping story.