I will admit that I was skeptical about this one. Even after all the great things I'd heard about this book, I was still hesitant to pick it up. It just didn't sound like something I would be interested in. A nun and an English doctor? Conjoined twins? Throw in a missionary hospital setting and political revolution and I was surely destined to be stuck reading a sentimental nightmare, right? Well, Verghese proved me wrong. 
 It's pretty rare that a book actually moves me to tears, but Cutting for Stone had me bawling like a baby. Verghese has created a masterpiece--a coming of age tale with sprinklings of cultural revolution, religion, and a good dose of medicine that will rip your heart apart. His characters are raw and real; he doesn't idealize any single one of them and never omits their shortcomings. Instead, his intense focus on how their shortcomings affect the outcome of future events allowed me to simultaneously sympathize with, cheer for, and sometimes feel intense hatred for every single character at some point (maybe with the exception of Ghosh--he was my favorite all along). 
 My heart aches. I can't even imagine what I'm going to read next because this is going to be a tough act to follow.