Cutting for Stone

A Novel

By: Abraham Verghese

Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra

Length: 23 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The Covenant of Water: A beautifully written, page-turning family saga of Ethiopia and America, doctors and patients, exile and home. • “Filled with mystical scenes and deeply felt characters.... Verghese is something of a magician as a novelist.” —USA Today

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

This sweeping, emotionally riveting novel that "shows how history and landscape and accidents of birth conspire to create the story of a single life" (Los Angeles Times).

©2009 Abraham Verghese (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Abraham Verghese is a doctor, an accomplished memoirist and, as he proves in Cutting for Stone, something of a magician as a novelist. This sprawling, 50-year epic begins with a touch of alchemy: the birth of conjoined twins to an Indian nun in an Ethiopian hospital in 1954. The likely father, a British surgeon, flees upon the mother’s death, and the (now separated) baby boys are adopted by a loving Indian couple who run the hospital. Filled with mystical scenes and deeply felt characters–and opening a fascinating window onto the Third World–Cutting for Stone is an underdog and a winner. Shades of Slumdog Millionaire.”–Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today

“A novel set in Africa bears a heavy burden. The author must bring the continent home to help the reader sit in a chair and imagine vast, ancient, sorrowful, beautiful Africa. In the last decade I’ve read books narrated by characters homesick for Africa; books by or about child soldiers; books about politics; books full of splintering history.... Lush and exotic . . . richly written.”–Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“Any doubts you might harbor about a 534-page first novel by a physician in his 50s will be allayed in the first few pages of this marvelous book. Abraham Verghese has written two graceful memoirs, but Cutting for Stone, his wildly imaginative fictional debut, is looser, bigger, even better.... The doctor in him sees the luminous beauty of the physician’s calling; the artist recognizes that there remain wounds no surgeon can men. ‘Where silk and steel fail, story must succeed,’ Marion muses. This one does.”–Jennifer Reese, Entertainment Weekly; Grade: A

Exceptional Read.

Narrator was excellent. Story was brilliant! I recommend this book highly. It is a long book. But you are a bit sad when it is over. you get attached to the characters.

Near perfect story telling - believable characters

4.7 stars - would have been 5 except the treatment of the Eritrean girl was oddly cruel and unforgiving -- and honestly sexist (not a label I'm prone to toss around) when one compares her unsympathetic treatment to that of the rebel general. NONETHELESS - great story, excellent character development, and a joy -- truly a joy -- to listen to. Learned much. Thanks to the author and the narrator.

Starts slow but give it a chance! Wonderful Story

While the beginning was very slow, this ended up being one of my favorite novels that I've read in a long time. It's a tale about destiny...and one man's run in with destiny throughout his life.

Has multiple wonderful love stories are very differing, drama, and while it has a lot-a-bit of heartbreak it is still uplifting and has glimmers of hope and destiny weaved throughout.

I would recommended reading it and just make sure that you don't stop until you get to after the twins are born!

Enjoyable through and through

This is a captivating story that sometimes had my heart pounding in anticipation of what would happen next with all the ups and downs and turns. I especially liked that the characters seemed so real and alive--even the extraordinary Ghosh. And to see that Marion had stumbled from his weakness for his childhood crush made it that more real (you’d think a smart doctor would know better--I found myself thinking “don’t do it, you fool!”—but understood why from the expert writing of placing the reader inside Marion’s thoughts. Sometimes I wanted the characters to behave differently just to make their lives easier, but in the end I'm very happy with how it was written.

Spectacular saga

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes....it is thoroughly engrossing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marion Stone. He narrates the story and his character is so rich.

Excellent. Engaging. Moving.

Narrator was excellent. A beautifully written, weaving story reflecting the atrocities & gems in life.

The story is SO believable- the READER IS GREAT!!

Best AUDIO book I have heard in 2 decades! The reader, Sunil Malhotra, has the perfect accent for this great story, really giving life to the characters. Character development is near genius. It never seemed like a novel --- must be a true story.
The story takes many tangents, which, at first, may seem like distractions, but just wait, those little side-tales all work so well in building a terrific package.
This is the quickest 24 hours of listening. I wanted more. I sat through a 24-hour performance and I wanted more? I wanted to meet the author. I wanted to meet the reader! I wanted him to just keep talking to me. Now I am shopping for anything else written by this author. I am also shopping for whatever else the reader has out there.

incredible narration, incredible story

Probably one of the most powerful books I've listened to. It felt like living an entire life in a book. The narrator also did an incredible job. 11/10.

Beautiful story!

What a wonderful story with so many unexpected and rich twists and turns. Narrator was wonderful also, the little nuggets of humor were great also. Characters were so well developed you couldn’t help but know them and love them.

Phenomenal Reader, Wonderful Listen

When I first read Cutting for Stone, I adored this book. The prose is captivatingly written, and I enjoyed the accessible medical science as much as the plot. Alas, my copy was lent out and never returned to me.

My favorite part of listening to Cutting for Stone was the incredible talent of the voice actor, Sunil Malhotra. He was a perfect choice for this book. I can’t say I’m familiar with the African accents he used, but to me every character he created was superb. Well done!