Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese is an NRI Malayali doctor working and living in the US currently (Stanford). However, he has spent a good part of his life in Ethiopia, which is reflected in his stunning novel of almost epic proportions, Cutting for Stone. This is his first work of fiction, and it is an engaging and intense read. His love for Addis Ababa is evident in his careful, painstakingly constructed prose. The book covers themes of love, loss, passion, deceit, despair and political turmoil seamlessly constructed against the backdrop of another great love of his life. Medicine.

The book offers in depth passages into the workings of the human body and captures it in all its frailties as a body lies open in front of the doctors on the operating table. The detailed descriptions of various body organs and diseases, as well as operating procedures, may not be entirely understandable to everyone out of the medical field but is still fascinating nonetheless. I felt like I was acutely conscious of my internal organs for the first time after I was done. I couldn’t help feeling that, at least initially, the influence of one my favorite author’s was present in his writing. And it was confirmed in the acknowledgements when he thanked John Irving. The quirky characters, situations and complicated emotional wrangling reminded me of his style.

The story is about the lives of a group of people at the Mission hospital in Addis Ababa, mistakenly christened the Missing Hospital. Here, the almost incredible union of surgeon Thomas Stone and a nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise leads to the birth of twins Shiva and Marion and brings unprecedented changes in everyone’s life. Thomas Stone flees in despair and shame and the twins are brought up lovingly by two other long serving doctors there, Hema and Ghosh. There is also the housekeeper Rosina and her daughter, Genet, among others. Genet comes to play an important role in shaping everyone’s destiny, especially Marion’s, from whose perspective the story is told. Destiny, deceit and the consequences of even the most inconsequent seeming actions play an important role in the story. The story spans the continents of India, Africa and the US as it follows Marion on his journey through his life. Among the political landscape of Ethiopia’s unstable past, the story is woven around the life of this motley set of doctors and others at the Missing hospital.

Definitely highly recommended for lovers of good fiction. But be prepared to immerse yourself in a story that will take up much more time and involvement than your average book.