<p>^ open to any book. Perhaps someone who has read the suggestions might offer input.</p>
<p>CBB- What additional meaning do you think the title may have ?</p>
<p>^^^ Right, I read that. BUT, I was wondering if others had additional thoughts on some of the other “levels of meaning.” I mean, it’s not like the author has the be all and end all answer, is it? Just because he wrote the book? :)</p>
<p>^ Okay, CBBBlinker, I’ll give it a try. 
(And thanks BUandBC82–I had not read that interview–very interesting!)</p>
<p>Medically speaking, none of the leading characters in Cutting for Stone ever do “cut for stone”—i.e., every one of them is an excellent doctor. Thomas Stone, Hema, Ghosh, Shiva…Although their methods and bedside manners may be different, they are all brilliant in their own way. And Marion, who doesn’t boast often about himself, does say this:</p>
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<p>I think Abraham Verghese had too great a love for his characters (and his profession) to allow any one of them to be an incompetent physician. The only doctor who isn’t worth his salt appears mostly “off-screen”—that’s Dr. Bachelli (“Bachelli up in the Piazza was marginally competent in obstetrics but unreliable after two in the afternoon.”)</p>
<p>So in what way are these doctors “cutting for stone”? Perhaps in the way they “cut” into each other emotionally, causing more hurt than healing.</p>
<p>Mary, That Moonstone thing is unbelievable! Maybe we have “Stone” on our minds?</p>
<p>On another note, I am just finishing The Art of Racing in The Rain. Really different…you view life from a dog’s prespective, and there are plenty of life’s lessons in this one. As an added bonus, I’ve been giving my own dog the special treatment…extra walks and attention, and it’s been fun!</p>
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<p>Maybe we do. Or maybe you’re actually psychicmom. :)</p>
<p>Re The Art of Racing in the Rain: My older daughter has two dogs. Sounds like it might make a good Christmas gift!</p>
<p>^^^regarding the title Mary13 wrote
“So in what way are these doctors “cutting for stone”?
Perhaps in the way they “cut” into each other emotionally, causing more hurt than healing”</p>
<p>I think this is excellent observation! Completely agree. </p>
<p>Recently, I saw an excellent movie entitled “Mao’s Last Dancer”, and highly recommend the movie to all.
Apparently,the movie, a true story, is based on a book with the same title (which I AM NOT recommending for book discussion), just curious if anyone has read it?</p>
<p>Mary13 – like your interpretation. Didn’t previously have any specific interpretation in mind – it just seemed like there had to be more to the title. I just did some brief research on that line from the Hippocratic Oath and found this: </p>
<p>*Lithotomy from Greek for “lithos” (stone) and “tomos” (cut), is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain hollow organs, such as the bladder and kidneys (urinary calculus) and gallbladder (gallstones), that cannot exit naturally through the urethra, ureter or biliary duct. </p>
<p>Human beings have known of bladder stones (“vesical calculi”) for thousands of years, and have attempted to treat them for almost as long. The oldest bladder stone that has been found was discovered in Egypt around 1900, and it has been dated to 4900 BC. The earliest written records describing bladder stones date to before the time of Hippocrates (ca. 460-370 BC). Hippocrates himself wrote that, “To cut through the bladder is lethal.”However, lithotomy was a fairly common procedure in the past, and there were specialized lithotomists. The ancient Greek Hippocratic Oath includes the phrase: ”I will not cut for stone, even for the patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners,” a clear warning for physicians against the “cutting” of persons “laboring under the stone”; an act that was better left to surgeons (who were distinct from physicians at that time in history).*</p>
<p>So, the “run of the mill” physicians were not supposed to “cut for stone;” they were supposed to leave that for the professionals/surgeons. Going along with what Mary13 said, the doctors in the book (or most of them) are the “professionals” – so in that sense, they are the ones who do “cut for stone,” but do no harm in the process.</p>
<p>Oh, and I also read “The Art of racing in the Rain” this summer. Loved, loved, loved it!</p>
<p>Wow. This discussion is phenomenal and better than the book groups I attend in person. Will try to keep up in future.</p>
<p>Wanted to alert everyone to an article in today’s NY Times about Verghese.
<a href=“Restoring the Lost Art of the Physical Exam - The New York Times”>Restoring the Lost Art of the Physical Exam - The New York Times;
<p>In spite of my best intentions, I haven’t participated in this virtual book group, but thought you all might enjoy this article about Dr. Verghese from this morning’s NY Times:
<a href=“Restoring the Lost Art of the Physical Exam - The New York Times”>Restoring the Lost Art of the Physical Exam - The New York Times;
<p>And if you choose to read Moonstone next I’ll try very hard to join in - my RL book group is reading it next month, per my recommendation!</p>
<p>crossposted with SDonCC! great minds ;)</p>
<p>SDon and PRJ, thanks for posting the link!
What a great article to read after dissecting this book, and the author, to such a degree. </p>
<p>He is a caring doctor, and astounding- </p>
<p>“Dr. Verghese smiled. “I am here to astound you,” he said.”</p>
<p>And, so he has…welcome SDon and PRJ- I’m sure our fearless leader, Mary13, would enjoy your views about the book, even if this book discussion has been winding down.
Mary13 has been known to revisit these threads months later, as other CCers discover these discussions.</p>
<p>SDonCC and PRJ, thanks so much for the link! </p>
<p>From the NY Times article, re Verghese:</p>
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<p>Anyone else think of Ghosh? :)</p>
<p>And yes, as SJChessMom said, all posts are welcome at any point—there’s no padlocking of the book club threads, and I think many of us are happy to re-visit what we’ve read!</p>
<p>thanks for the warm welcome, SJCM and Mary13! of course, commenting on the book, even at this late date, would require me to actually READ it, which I haven’t done yet!</p>
<p>I am months behind all of you - just finished The Thirteenth Tale ;)</p>
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<p>The Moonstone it is! I think it will be a nice change for us to read a classic. I’m looking forward to it.</p>
<p>And I have to say, this is the easiest group in the world with whom to reach a consensus. Too bad we don’t make up the U.S. Senate—think how much we could accomplish! (On the other hand, maybe we’d just sit around looking for themes and leitmotifs in the Constitution…:))</p>
<p>Thank you all for posting - my real life book club read this , but I had to miss the gathering , so this was fun for me.</p>
<p>sorry I hadn’t seen the question about the title earlier - my sweet dh, a general surgeon (now reading the book at my urging) knew the reasoning behind the title- but two speciality surgeons married to bookclub members did not - I was surprised how difficult it was to understand that title…even after reading the book</p>
<p>fwiw - real life bookclub is now reading “Lit” by Mary Carr…jury is still out on that one!!</p>
<p>The Kindle bookstore has several versions of The Moonstone. One is free, the others a dollar or a little more. Anyone know what “optimized for Kindle” means?</p>
<p>Mary - I’m in for Moonstone. Thanks for keeping us going!</p>
<p>SDon and PRJ - Thanks for the link. He’s an interesting man.</p>
<p>memphismom - My husband is a physician also. He is planning to read the book since I discussed it with him. Earlier someone had told him to read Verghese’s book - My Own Country, so his curiosity is peaked. I like your reference to your “real life bookclub”. Does that mean we’ll be your pretend bookclub?</p>
<p>Singermom07 - I don’t have a kindle, sorry I’m no help.</p>
<p>Singersmom07 – I think it means the book (or whatever) has been formatted to display better on the Kindle screen. Not sure how much of an improvement an “optimized” version is vs. one that’s not, though.</p>
<p>Count me in for The Moonstone.</p>
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<p>I don’t know what “optimized” means, but I downloaded the free version of The Moonstone and it looks fine to me. I’ve downloaded a few other freebies that have been perfectly satisfactory. I’m a little more careful if the book is a translation. (For example, I spent a whopping .99 cents on The Count of Monte Cristo so that I could get the translation by Robin Buss.)</p>
<p>Anyone know the reasoning behind the cheaper prices for the classics? It seems kind of backwards to me (not that I’m complaining)!</p>
<p>Looking forward to reading THE Moonstone with ya’ll.</p>