Educated: A Memoir
Ratings914
Average rating4.4
Wow. Devastating and so important. This is not just a relational trauma memoir but a record of a spiritual battle, a fight for the grounds of reality itself. A fight in which we will all, at some point, have to make our own stand.
Let me never, never, never try to hold someone hostage to my own world view. That is the genesis of evil.
“I could have my mother's love, but there were terms, the same terms they had offered me three years before: that I trade my reality for theirs, that I take my own understanding and bury it, leave it to rot in the earth.” Ch 39
THIS is what the struggle of the “end times” is about, not owning stupid hoards of food and gasoline and guns, but the ability to own your own thoughts, your own understanding, and through them to connect freely with others, not walled off in fearful isolation. The “end” refers to the end of the era when this was not fully in our own hands. Now it is. A terrifying, amazing prospect. And some have made it through, but many others are falling to the temptation to give themselves up, to bury themselves and remain dead rather than risk true life.
“Once justified, I thought the strangling guilt would release me and I could catch my breath. But vindication has no power over guilt. No amount of anger or rage directed at others can subdue it, because guilt is never about them. Guilt is the fear of one's own wretchedness. It has nothing to do with other people.” Ch 40
Inspiring and emotional story in a very detailed and touching manner - one of my top reads!
This was very well-written, but after learning that Annie Dillard's story about the tomcat never happened to her, I'm pretty suspicious of memoir.
It's hard for me to identify my problem is, because all the pieces are believable: manic abusive visionary father who distrusts the government, abusive brother, mother who does nothing, family who bows to the father and brother's influence. Religion that makes people do crazy things. That all makes sense.
But something doesn't feel right.
My guess is that Tara had to dissociate as a child, to play a role, and continues to do so as an adult. That probably contributes to a feeling of distance in the writing. But I find it odd that we don't know what she currently believes about religion, or how she came to have a real boyfriend without dealing with her views about women. A lot of inner thought is left unexplored.
Wow, this lady had a ROUGH childhood. Rural Idaho is known for its extremist far-right religious bent, and the trauma and familial abuse she went through and seeing how one could grow up in an environment like that and come out so different was very interesting to read about.
This was an incredible memoir which talks about the importance of education and how it can change someones life. Most of my family has now read it and everyone has loved it. So much power in her stories!
Nothing beats a good story. I can't say much about the writing but I think the content itself is intriguing enough. Tho I have to admit that it was my third attempt, I gave up quite quickly at my first two tries, which I think is due to my lack of knowledge of Mormonism. I remember when I first read it....I was just simply couldn't understand it ...I mean I literally did not understand it...since the world it describes is too peculiar to me ..I was like..."this book doesn't make sense".
This book was a life-changer! I love it so much. Her story was heartbreaking and inspiring I will never forget it.
Look, as someone who grew up in Mormonland (not Idaho, and not in such a small area), this story is not too fantastical for me. I know everyone thinks BYU is this insanely prestigious place and some other shit doesn't add up but I mean that's the insane thing about trauma. I thought the meditations on the fallibility of memory was super interesting, but overall I felt the pacing was sort of strange, so I rated it a little lower.
Contains spoilers
what makes this book so good is that it doesn’t try to be inspiring, yet the story itself is so impactful it creates a beautiful narrative. veeery good read, i just wish it had a bit more on how the author overcame the trauma— there was a lot of background information (which i liked) but then we teleport to harvard and success. i would have really enjoyed to read about the personal process, mindset shift, and just the little steps that got her to where she is today.
Summary: This autobiography tells the story of the life of Tara Westover, who was raised in near isolation with her six siblings by highly religious parents who trusted neither the medical establishment nor the government. As a child, Tara did not attend school and did not have a birth certificate until the age of nine.
Her story is at times shocking, and readers who may have experienced any kind of physical or domestic abuse should be made aware that this book may be difficult to read.
Cannot recommend this book enough. Especially for anyone who has taken a different path in life than their family of origin, despite the difficulty in doing so. Probably going to to reread this now
So good. I have a feeling she might feel a bit more harshly towards her parents once she becomes one herself, but an incredible journey to read.
Outstanding and extremely gripping. I thought that Tara's writing style conveyed her thoughts and emotions in such a precise and relatable manner, which is very difficult to do. I felt what she was feeling and couldn't help but relate to my own life and my own family, even if I grew up drastically differently than her.
This autobiography was really hard to read but so good! My heart hurt for the girl who Tara was and the woman she became through the years of conditioning and brainwashing she endured growing up in a cult like family.
At times nausea inducing, always fascinating, either the characters writ large on the page. Gaps where I wanted to know more in some places (like, I wanted to know how Westover dealt with moving in with her partner and overcoming the “living in sin” thoughts) and cyclical in others (many of the stories with Shawn were essentially playing out over and over, although I understand this to be a reflection of the realities of abuse).
3/5 stars
I was conflicted about how to rate this book. It is more difficult for me to discuss a book when it is about the author's own life. The writing style was interesting, but it did not completely immerse me in the story. There were sections where I was really interested, but then it would change slightly and throw me off. In some cases, it was valid. This was noticeable in the chapter where she talked about her older brother's leg getting burned. She mentioned that he had a different account of what had happened than what she and her other brother remembered. I could not understand it in other situations, like the one where her brother is about to head off to college. At the beginning of the chapter, she mentioned that he would not return until she turned fifteen, but I did not really understand why she had to bring up that information. I had assumed that she would talk about why this was a significant change rather than how her dad was attempting to talk him out of leaving. This is more of the type of information you would include at the end of the chapter. (I could be very wrong; I lost the page this happened on, so I'm just going off memory.)
I don't regret reading this book. I know that this is definitely not a book for everyone so I would hesitantly recommend this to people because I feel like it is very hit or miss for people.
Wow. An incredible read, but also provoked so much consideration around what it means to decide for yourself. A kind commentary in the face of ruthless bigotry.
Educated reminds me why I love memoirs; they let you peer into experiences that you would otherwise never have known the existence of. Set against the backdrop is of a deeply religious survivalist family, Tara beautifully paints the story of her childhood, with all its horrifying and yet, somehow endearing moments laid bare for the reader. At the same time, she also weaves a deeper story of the pain and trauma and internalized guilt of simultaneously loving her family and wanting to escape the chokehold of a bipolar father and volatile household. A really great read.
This story is raw and upsetting and nuanced and I inhaled it almost in one piece.
It's a story about a family disturbed by religious fanaticism but mainly abuse, both emotional and physical, the descriptions of which can be hard to read at times due to the detailed accounts, but it's worth it. The book talks well of the nuances and shifts in the workings of such a family and the people in it are definitely not black and white, we see the horrible people do nice things as well and vica versa which makes it easy to put ourselves into the protagonists shoes.
I've read one other reviewer writing that perhaps Tara should have waited before writing her book as the story she told feels kind of unfinished and more of her way of working through her trauma. I agree, the ending kind of lacks a certain closing quality, But as it's a memoir and not a piece of fiction, that's understandable and the story itself is so strong and vivid and draws you in, that I decided to give it 5 stars nevertheless.
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