Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

[SteveK]

I finished reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese yesterday, and have to recommend it as the best work of fiction I've read for a long time. Without giving too much away, the story is set in Africa and the US and tells the story of a family of doctors. It's written from the first-person perspective of one of the sons, who is also a doctor. It starts at (or even shortly before) his birth and continues to his adulthood. The story is more character driven than plot-driven, but many events happen throughout the 60 or so years of his family and professional life it chronicles.

The prose is almost poetic and lyrical and is a joy to read. It's a good idea to keep a dictionary handy, as the vocabulary is at a much higher level than you typically see in a best seller, even ignoring the medical vocabulary. It's clear that Dr. Verghese is highly intelligent.

His previous works are non-fiction, so this is his first foray into the field of fiction. Currently, it appears that only Cutting for Stone is available as an e-book, so hopefully my library stocks some of his other works, as I definitely would like to read more books by him, and I'll certainly keep an eye out for any future works of fiction he may write.

I haven't seen this title discussed previously, but I highly recommend it.

Enjoy!

SteveK