The story with a slow build. I talked about it last time, and I promised more. The title is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and the story is extraordinary.
Like anything involving delayed gratification, sometimes worthwhile journeys require slogging through a bit of mud to get there. I’m here to tell you this: Don’t skip the mud!
Walking in knee deep mud is difficult. It requires concentration because, if you stumble in knee deep mud and then fall in said knee deep mud, it quickly becomes neck deep mud and nobody wants to go there.
The mud focuses our mind. It stretches our muscles. It makes us dig deep to find the energy we need to keep slogging. Are you feeling the grit between your teeth yet? OK, let’s bring it back to reality.
Reading this novel was not the difficult experience I’m describing. The first 150 pages are filled with NECESSARY details. They are presented in an interesting manner, and I was transported to an incredible world as I read. But when I reached the mid-point in the novel, all these details began to dovetail. As minor characters grew in importance, I recalled bits of information I didn’t feel were important at the time, but they became paramount as the novel progressed.
One of the greatest satisfactions in reading comes when an author makes every word count and presents his story in a way that the reader can taste each word at the end and know that the flavors all work together to make something more special than any of the individual ingredients alone. If one item is omitted, the outcome will not be the same.
Cutting for Stone is delicate, delicious, serious, fascinating, and riveting. Every word contributes to a gorgeous and complex whole. It’s worth your time.
Fair warning, a few adult scenes and occasional language.
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