Tuesday, March 6, 2018

"Educated" by Tara Westover

You all know that I love me a good memoir -- and I was intrigued when I saw "Educated" by Tara Westover at the local mega-bookstore on Saturday night.  I'd heard nothing about this book before then, but the blurb on the inside flap & praise on the back cover intrigued me (plus, it was on sale, lol), so I bought it. 

While sometimes I dither when I buy a new book (do I want to get into this one now? should I read that other one first?), I dived right in.  By the time I went to bed a few hours later, I was almost 2/3 of the way through. I picked it up again yesterday afternoon and finished it later that evening. (I probably would have finished it sooner than I did, but we went to a movie on Sunday afternoon, and then it was time for the Oscars. ;)  )

Westover grew up on an isolated mountain property in southern Idaho, the youngest of seven children. Her family was Mormon, in a largely Mormon community -- but her father's bizarre beliefs about the Illuminati, the evils of government and the need to prepare for the imminent end of the world set her family apart from the mainstream. Guns, ammunition and gasoline tanks were stashed all over the property. Westover helped her mother can endless jars of peaches in preparation for the coming end times and (like all her siblings) slept with a "head for the hills" bag, ready to run from evil government agents at a moment's notice. She did not have a birth certificate, was not immunized, never saw a doctor and never attended school. Her education consisted mostly of reading texts by the Founding Fathers of the United States and Mormon prophets. She spent most of her younger years helping her mother (a midwife and homeopathic healer) deliver babies (ALI note & caveat: there are some disturbing stories about semi-disastrous deliveries and prematurely born infants) and brew up essential oils and herbal remedies.

Later, as a teenager, she worked with her brothers in her father's junkyard.  Scant attention was paid to workplace safety, and many of the Westovers (including Tara herself) endured some horrific injuries and accidents as a result (which were ultimately chalked up to "God's will" and tended to by her mother).  As she grew older, her father became increasingly radical in his beliefs (and likely mentally ill), while one of her brothers grew increasingly violent -- towards Tara, as well as others. Her parents made excuses for him and tried to convince Tara that it was all in her imagination.

Encouraged by one of her other brothers, Westover taught herself enough to pass the ACT (a standardized college admissions test, similar to the SAT) and was accepted to Brigham Young University in Utah when she was just 17. To say she was unprepared for the challenges she would face there -- academic and otherwise -- is an understatement.  (Prime example: She stunned her professor and classmates when she asked what the word "Holocaust" meant.)  Gradually, she found her academic groove ("read the textbook" turned out to be excellent advice).  Her hunger to learn and to explore the world took her from BYU to Cambridge, Harvard, and back to Cambridge again, where she eventually earned her PhD in history.

Inevitably, Westover's education and growing sense of self drove a wedge between her and her family.  She began to ask herself: what do we owe to our families? to society? What do we owe to ourselves? And what do we do when those obligations come into conflict with each other?  (These questions ultimately formed the basis of her PhD thesis, as well as this book.)

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads. It was intense and powerful, at times disturbing, and beautifully written. Ultimately, it was a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

I will be thinking about it for a long, long time.

This was book #4 that I've read so far in 2018, bringing me to 17% of my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books.  I am -- so far! ;)  -- on track to meet my goal.  :) 

11 comments:

  1. There are so many similarities between what Grey experienced and Tara’s upbringing. He wasn’t on the extreme, but the “head for the hills” bag rings a bell.

    Thanks for the review. Something to pick up at the library today

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    1. Given what you've written about toxic family relationships (albeit not in the same way as this writer's), I'd be interested in hearing your take on this book, Cristy!

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  2. I have had the hardest time commenting on your posts lately! I hope this one takes...

    This is one of my book club's books this year, so very pleased you liked it so much. Speaking of book clubs - someone told me about a book club idea: a woman my friend knew moved to a new city, into an apartment building. She wanted to make new friends so she posted a note in the lobby suggesting a book club. She met a few people this way, and these are her core friends years later! I know you recently moved to a new area of town into a condo building--maybe worth considering? I'm not sure how big your building is. What I am sure of is you would be a huge asset to any book club.

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    1. This one took! :) Our condo building is on the smaller side, 124 units -- and there are a lot of retirees whose first language is not English, so I'm not sure how well a book club would go over. I have discovered that a couple of the local libraries run book clubs, though... not sure how well attended they are, but it's something I'm thinking of investigating. Thanks for the idea! <3

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  3. This book sounds fascinating!! I am interested in both her upbringing and the questions she poses: "What do we owe our families? What do we owe ourselves?... And what do we do when those obligations come into conflict with each other?" Those questions particularly intrigue me as an infertile woman who has a very fertile family.

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    1. And when you're in a marriage, there's a spouse & possibly children to consider too, right? Hopefully our family relationships are not as damaging as the ones Tara endured... but I do think it's something we all struggle with to some degree. Who comes first, and when?

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  4. FYI, there are some great podcasts on her webpage, if you want to har her discuss the book... I especially enjoyed the one with John Dickerson on CBS.

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  5. I like how you mention that you will be thinking about this book for a long, long time. How much I think about a book or a movie as a personal yardstick for rating how good it is. Thanks for the recommendation--this book sounds like it is right up my alley!

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    1. If you read it, I'd love to know what you think about i!

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  6. I JUST heard about this book yesterday! I think I’ll suggest it for my book club.

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