This was the October 2012 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove. It had been on my wish list for a while after I'd read all the buzz about it.
In all honesty, the first 200 pages were painful to slog through. If it weren't for the fact that it was for book club, I would never have finished it. Yes, folks, it was THAT bad....
Imagine one scene being drawn out for a couple hundred pages, because the narrative takes all sorts of detours, wandering off into Ethiopia's geography, politics and several character backstories! It was mind-numbingly unfocused; just meandering about before finally getting back to the delivery room where Sister Mary Joseph Praise, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, Sister Mary Joseph Praise (yes, that's about how many times her FULL NAME was used per paragraph, LOL - it was so annoying!) was giving birth to twins - a pregnancy she managed to hide from EVERYONE in the hospital - where she worked among medical personnel daily - until she actually went into labor! Seriously??
But once the twins were FINALLY born, the narrative became much more readable, a bit more interesting (thank goodness!) so I was able to stick with it.
But I never felt a connection with any of the characters; and I attribute that to the outrageously contrived writing style! The story is supposedly from one of the twins' point-of-view, yet the first half is littered with a 3rd person level of detail. How could Marion remember coming through the birth canal?? Or playing with a nanny's breast as a infant? Or minute details of things that took place long before he was even conceived? Not likely. He also had a lifelong "puppy love" fixation that felt silly and forced.
And there were also quite a few coincidences in the 3rd act that pushed plausibility. Not to mention the gratuitously excessive details about prolapses, fistulas, various surgical procedures and sexual encounters. They were just plain gross and distasteful!
All in all, I can't understand the raves for this book. It reads like a manuscript that's just ready to be edited! I can't recommend it, but so many others say they love it, and it's been a bestseller for so long....alas, it's just not my cuppa book. And I don't think I'd ever want to read anything by Abraham Verghese again. His style of writing just isn't for me.
But since I do think the narrative got lightyears more engaging after the first 200 pages, I give CUTTING FOR STONE a C-.
In all honesty, the first 200 pages were painful to slog through. If it weren't for the fact that it was for book club, I would never have finished it. Yes, folks, it was THAT bad....
Imagine one scene being drawn out for a couple hundred pages, because the narrative takes all sorts of detours, wandering off into Ethiopia's geography, politics and several character backstories! It was mind-numbingly unfocused; just meandering about before finally getting back to the delivery room where Sister Mary Joseph Praise, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, Sister Mary Joseph Praise (yes, that's about how many times her FULL NAME was used per paragraph, LOL - it was so annoying!) was giving birth to twins - a pregnancy she managed to hide from EVERYONE in the hospital - where she worked among medical personnel daily - until she actually went into labor! Seriously??
But once the twins were FINALLY born, the narrative became much more readable, a bit more interesting (thank goodness!) so I was able to stick with it.
But I never felt a connection with any of the characters; and I attribute that to the outrageously contrived writing style! The story is supposedly from one of the twins' point-of-view, yet the first half is littered with a 3rd person level of detail. How could Marion remember coming through the birth canal?? Or playing with a nanny's breast as a infant? Or minute details of things that took place long before he was even conceived? Not likely. He also had a lifelong "puppy love" fixation that felt silly and forced.
And there were also quite a few coincidences in the 3rd act that pushed plausibility. Not to mention the gratuitously excessive details about prolapses, fistulas, various surgical procedures and sexual encounters. They were just plain gross and distasteful!
All in all, I can't understand the raves for this book. It reads like a manuscript that's just ready to be edited! I can't recommend it, but so many others say they love it, and it's been a bestseller for so long....alas, it's just not my cuppa book. And I don't think I'd ever want to read anything by Abraham Verghese again. His style of writing just isn't for me.
But since I do think the narrative got lightyears more engaging after the first 200 pages, I give CUTTING FOR STONE a C-.
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