What readers think of Cutting For Stone, plus links to write your own review.

The audio book is one of the best I've listened to. Some narrators 'read' to you.....this narrator brings the country and the characters to life - you are entertained and educated and won't be disappointed.

I am almost finished - have really been saving the last few pages because I am in the process of reviewing contents. This has been an interesting book - many layers for all characters- right now I am trying to go back and find a direct reference to the title - I remember seeing it in the text. I have thought about the title a lot. This book would be ideal for someone who has done mission work / medical work for needy. I have worked at reading this book - it has taken me a week off and on, because I keep finding things I want to figure out. I loved Ghosh best of all characters. CML

Yes, it's epic; yes, it is thickly plotted, but please, people--beneath very seductive and flowing prose is a strongly misogynistic book--doesn't anyone notice that women--when they are given any attention at all--are martyrs or madonnas? That having sex out of wedlock leads to serious illness and/or death? That the protagonist (Marion) is a rapist? that once Hema gains possession of the twins she vanishes as a fully realized character?
Despite claims for a patient-centered narrative, it's still all about the western-style doctor.

I loved Cutting for Stone, including for some of the reasons it is criticized, like the inclusion of descriptions of medical procedures. Mostly I love the characterization of the narrator, Marion Stone, for the complex combination of sympathetic and maddening behavior, and attitudes. Marion sees his world through eyes that the reader knows often distort what he sees, a condition that is sometimes true for all of us. The distortions lead to both wonderful and disastrous decisions.

Thank you Dr Verghese for writing this superb book.

It has been a long while since I have been so engrossed in the characters,enthralled by the story line, whilst opening my eyes to a great many subjects that until now I was ignorant of.

Your use of the English language was extraordinarily beautiful even when discussing some of the rarer more disturbing medical facts.

It has been a month since I (sadly) finished Cutting for Stone and it still moves me, to the extent of writing this review, something I have not done with any other book!

I very much look forward to more work from you!

I loved this book! I'm very interested in books with medical subjects. I found myself reading the first 100 or so pages with a world map by my side---it was a great geography and history lesson as I knew very little about that part of the world. When I finished the book I reread the prologue and first part again----it really tied it all together!!

Well done...very well done. I'm exhausted...at 534 pages, I have been thoroughly engrossed in the lives of Marion and Shiva stone for close to a month. This book had tons of layers...lots of heart and love and warmth and heartbreak and squirm-inducing scenes. cutting for stone is the sort of book I love...crossing time and generations and taking me to places I've never been and will probably never go. and the title is great, too. even it contains tons of layers.

A few minor quibbles...I never felt as though Marion was a REAL character...he almost seemed too perfect. I found it hard to believe his pure and true love for Genet. Shiva was hard to know, too, and I thought some of the story got lost in the medical details. Also felt it dragged a bit during their childhoods. Other characters - Ghosh, Thomas Stone, Hema, sister Mary Joseph, even matron - were much better fleshed out than Marion and Shiva and had better "stories." still, cutting for stone is captivating. Read it.

A wonderful family saga that will keep book groups in discussion overtime with the richness of characters, history, place and time in this debut novel. A definite must for all public libraries.