March was a slow month for me in the reading department. It was incredibly busy in all other aspects, which, unfortunately, did not bode well for my literary pursuits. But, what I
did read was very, very good!
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is an incredibly interesting story about conjoined twins born in Ethiopia to a nine-fingered surgeon and a nun working at a mission hospital. (That right there should be enough to pique your interests!) The book revolves around the twins' lives within the backdrop of the beautiful Ethiopian countryside and intense political upheaval.
Not having a lot of context as far as Ethiopia is concerned, I found it enlightening to read about that country, its people and its politics. There is a lot of medicine and medical references in the novel, especially of the ob/gyn variety, which I, of course, found to be fun.
This book did take a little bit to get into though; but definitely got better once the story became more linear. Towards the end I had a hard time putting it down. It is not for the faint of heart, topping out at 670 pages (part of the reason it required the whole month of March for me to read!).
Favorite quote:
"The world turns on our every action, and our every omission, whether we know it or not."
My score: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
