Educated

a memoir

by Tara Westover

[sound recording] :, 12 pages

English language

Published Aug. 15, 2018

ISBN:: 978-0-525-52805-0
OCLC Number:: 987279038

(1049 reviews)

Traces the author's experiences as a child born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, describing her participation in her family's paranoid stockpiling activities and her resolve to educate herself well enough to earn acceptance into a prestigious university and the unfamiliar world beyond.

25 editions

diogo reviewed Educated by Tara Westover

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RexLegendi reviewed Educated by Tara Westover

Review of 'Educated' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Tara Westover (1986) groeide als jongste van zeven op in een geïsoleerd gezin in Idaho. In haar autobiografie Educated beschrijft ze de invloed van haar vader, die zijn kinderen een verstrekkende achterdocht jegens de overheid bijbracht en hen grootbracht volgens strikte mormoonse geloofsopvattingen. Westover ging niet naar school en had aanvankelijk zelfs geen geboortebewijs. Van publieke voorzieningen moest haar vader niets hebben. Zelfs toen haar moeder na een auto-ongeluk met raccoon eyes rondliep, een teken van ernstig hersenletsel, kwam er geen dokter aan te pas.

De afloop is op voorhand bekend. De overgang van een in zichzelf gekeerde gemeenschap naar eerst een lokale universiteit en daarna dankzij een ‘wild card’ zelfs naar Cambridge in Engeland doet denken aan [b:Weg met Eddy Bellegueule|23372884|Weg met Eddy Bellegueule|Édouard Louis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551543526l/23372884.SY75.jpg|71037054] van Édouard Louis. De verschillen zijn echter groot. Westover had haar plek in het gezin en groeide op met de …

I wanted to tell Charles about the Illuminati, but the words belonged to my father, and even in my mind they sounded awkward, rehearsed.

Bijzonder is hoe Westover met voorbeelden beschrijft welke prijs het gezin moest betalen voor de opvattingen van haar vader, zonder hem werkelijk de rug toe te keren: tot aan het einde toe blijft ze zoeken naar toenadering, al kan ze niet terugkeren naar 'zijn' werkelijkheid.

I am not the child my father raised, but he is the father who raised her.

Educated is een persoonlijk verhaal, geen kritiek op survivalisme of de mormoonse kerk. Het zet aan tot denken, zeker voor Europeanen voor wie ook deze 'westerse' manier van leven buitenaards voorkomt.

Pretense reviewed Educated Tara Westover, Where the Crawdads Sing [Hardcover] 2 Books Collection Set by Tara Westover

Review of 'Educated Tara Westover, Where the Crawdads Sing [Hardcover] 2 Books Collection Set' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It is always strange reviewing a memoir, because it feels a bit unfair to ‘rate’ someone’s personal experiences. Westover is being vulnerable with the reader in her memoir, and I appreciate her doing so. I read this for a book club and had the chance to discuss it with others who brought up some interesting points as well. Much of the discussion revolved around the author’s privilege of being a fairly respected but typical ‘white girl from Idaho’. She was known in her local community, and her community helped her get where she is—through employing her, letting her get her first steps out of her household, and others. I would have liked the author to reflect on this a bit more, as well as looking at how she was able to get where she is.

She is of course very grateful to her supportive brothers, who pushed her on this path. Without them, she might never have felt that she was worthy to go to school. She was also pushed by certain professors and others to apply for scholarships and programs, all while not feeling like she was deserving of them. I can understand this feeling somewhat, and it helped me empathize with her; but it is odd thinking about how so much of her success is due to the chance occurrence of having these supportive figures in her life that helped uplift her.

The author’s family is incredibly nutty. Looking at the mother’s so-called response to the author’s memoir, it is clear they still expect to gaslight Westover and make her out to be the villain; as with any perspective, it’s good to take things with a grain of salt. But I find it rather easy to side with Westover on this one. No family ought to love their children conditionally; I understand that better than most, unfortunately, and it really is an awful feeling. I’m glad that the author was able to make her own ‘found family’ and find supportive people in her extended family. I hope that she is able to move on past the trauma of her family and her life; writing this memoir probably helped a ton. Cutting off family isn’t easy, but it is what the author deserves—she deserves to be free to make her own choices and live her own life.

Westover is clearly a skilled writer (a PhD from Cambridge is no laughing matter, after all), and I appreciated the eloquent descriptions of her youth, growing up on the mountain, as well as her experiences to broadening her experience in the world by traveling to Rome and Paris. Sometimes the episodes were tough to read, and other times they felt a little amorphous and random, but overall this memoir was a delight to read. My main takeaway from this book is motivation—I have been in an academic slump despite starting a new program. The feeling of not being worthy and self-doubt are constant themes in the memoir that Westover has to overcome, and through reading it, I felt myself begin to examine these impulses in my own thoughts. I hope I can use her experience and become more confident in my academic self-worth, too.

Santhosh Guru reviewed Educated Tara Westover, Where the Crawdads Sing [Hardcover] 2 Books Collection Set by Tara Westover

Review of 'Educated Tara Westover, Where the Crawdads Sing [Hardcover] 2 Books Collection Set' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a gut-wrenching but an endearing memoir.

It’s a story of a girl growing up in a paranoiac family that doesn’t believe in public schools, Holocaust, government agencies and with many other quirks. It’s also a story of living through a physically abusive and mentally tormented upbringing.

If I sound gloom, hold your horses. It is an endearing story of someone who went from no schooling to getting a Ph.D in just a span of ten years through sheer grit and perseverance.

This is soulful reminder of counting one’s blessings and privileges that we all take for granted. Simple acts of going to a school or visiting a hospital or wearing a fashionable dress are indeed a privilege and luxury for certain people.

One of the wonderful books I listened through this year. Eerily it reminded me of the Netflix’s documentary Wild Wild Country for the cult like beliefs …

Kevin Smokler reviewed Educated by Tara Westover

Review of 'Educated' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Stunningly beautiful memoir about growing up in a survivalist family in Idaho, about growing up and no longer feeling like you belong. The pacing her is letter perfect, each chapter containing its own magic and yet adding to the story itself. The kind of book you can't wait to get back to and finis by saying, out loud, to anybody, "I'm so glad I read that."