Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
I’m not really sure how to describe “Cutting for Stone” in a way that won’t make it sound stupid. The story is narrated by Marion, one of a pair of half-Indian, half-Anglo twins growing up in Ethiopia. The boys were conjoined at birth, but only but a small passageway at the head, so they were quickly separated. Marion and his brother Shiva are raised by two doctors at the hospital where they were born because their mother, a nun, died in childbirth and their father, a surgeon who didn’t know they were on their way, fled the country with his guilt and sorrow after her death.
Vergehese is clearly a very skilled writer and a very good doctor. “Cutting for Stone’” describes rather vividly quite a few medical procedures. Normally that would not interest me in the least. However, in this case it was entirely appropriate for the book and gave the story more of a feeling of reality. I was definitely able to forget that Marion was a character, as opposed to a real person.
This was definitely a good book, but unfortunately I was not able to get the full effect. Instead of picking up a printed copy of “Cutting for Stone,” I listened to the audiobook. Now, the audiobook had a very talented narrator who was great with voices and had good pacing. However, I just don’t think this is a book that works well with audio, particularly if you are someone who listens to 30 or 40 minutes at a time in the car. There was a fair amount of jumping around of time periods in the story, particularly at the beginning. This would not have bothered me at all had I been reading and able to flip back a few pages to remember where/when I was, but on my Ipod it was not so reader-friendly. I think I’m going to have to try re-reading it, this time in print form, in a few months.
Definitely give this book a try, but avoid the audio unless you listen for long periods at a time.
Buy this book from:
Powell’s.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.
That’s a shame. I hope if you get a chance to read it in print form that you like it better! I don’t have this one but it’s on my “book radar”.
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Very interesting. I read the book as a book, and I would agree that it may not be such a good audiobook. And it’s true that it’s way easier to flip back and forth in a book than to go through a tedious rewind!
Thanks for the audio review. I was going to get this from the library on audio, now I’ll get on the waiting list for the print version.
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You’re right. Some books do not lend themselves well to audio. I spend about an two hours in the car coming and going to work and if it jumped around, I would probably lose my patience with it.
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This one has been on my radar too, with many great reviews out there. I do like listening to audio, so I am glad you gave us the head’s up.
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I just finished part two as the train arrived at my stop for work this morning (page 180). I’m loving this book and really wish I could stay home all day and read it instead of being at work. You’re right that it’s hard to describe without sounding stupid. I went through that yesterday when I was trying to recommend it to someone.
I agree that there are some books that just don’t lend themselves well to audio. I’m glad I have the print version.
SuziQoregon’s last blog post..Audiobook – The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters
As a book, this was very easy to follow, but I can see how it wouldn’t work well on audio. So much of what I loved about it had to do with the writing and the way the words washed over me—I think you should definitely read it in a couple months when you can get the full experience.
I read this a while back and it’s going to be one of my top five books of 2009 no doubt- probably 1 or 2. I fall asleep listening to audio books so I can’t say anything about that, but it was an amazing piece of work. I hope everyone who’s even remotely interested will pick it up in whatever format, and give it a chance. It’s a looooong book but so worth it!
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You’re right – some books are better as audio than others. I’ve got this book and hopefully it’ll be easier to follow.
I’m trying desperately to hold out for the paperback version, but I don’t alway succeed at that.
I hope you get more out of the print version of this!
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Great review Jenn. This one is on my TBR and I will make sure to read the book, not listen to the audiobook.
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Thanks for the review! I just added this one to my WL at the library on audio, but now I think I will get the print version instead.
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You’ve been reading some great books lately! I have this book (print version) sitting on my shelf and hope to get to it soon. Thanks for the review!
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I have to strongly disagree with “I just don’t think this is a book that works well with audio…”. This is a wonderful story and one of the best read audio books I’ve listened to in a while. (and I’ve listened to quite a few audio books) Suni Malhotra’s reading was spot on. This is a very long book, and we tended to listen to it on longer driving trips. Filled with culture and history I new very little about, it was a wonderful listen.
If you notice, I said ‘particularly if you listen for 30 to 40 minutes at a time.’ With a longer time to listen it would certainly be better, but I still think that for this book I’d rather read the print version so I could flip back and forth. I agree that the audio book was very well done (good production, narration, etc.).