Amanda 's Reviews > Educated

Tara Westover is capable of crafting a beautiful sentence.
Her overall story left me processing mixed reaction.

It's impressive that although she was "uneducated" until she attended BYU at age 17, she continued to such high levels, receiving scholarships and fellowships to study at Cambridge and Harvard, earning her PhD.
At the same time, I felt shadows of skepticism. It's her mother's word against hers; one says she is a home schooler, one says she wasn't home schooled - but she somehow learned enough in her years at home to score well above average on the ACT.

Rather than having much to do with her education process, the rest of Westover's struggles (family, relationships, and replaying dramatic childhood memories) seem to be her focus. And though a vicious cycle, they are probably not that uncommon, and compared to many childhoods, not even so very bad. (suggested reads: Antwone Fisher's Finding Fish and Kenny Porpora's The Autumn Balloon)
Radical parents, I think so. Sometimes dangerous working conditions, yes. Emotionally unhealthy, it sounds that way from Tara's side of things. But she also had opportunity, two sets of grandparents close by and willing to help her, freedoms to break free. I believe her parents helped her with much more than she lets on. The vehicles and money and rent to get to Utah came from somewhere. Not everyone has those resources.
I feel strongly that an education is something every child should have a right to, and I'm not attempting to understate the abusive treatment from her brother - though this continued long after she had the means to stay away and became hard for me to sympathize with. Nor am I attempting to understate the working safety hazards. But I've known many people who grew up helping with their family livelihood (building, logging, farming), operating machinery, losing fingers and thumbs - without bitterness or self pity. When I start to think of all of the accidents and injuries accumulated in my own rural upbringing before the 21st century, I realized I could write my own book. (Don't worry, I don't plan on it.)
There are a lot of radical religious and political views out there. Unfairly, a lot of not-great parents. And sadly, but above all, far worse neglectful and abusive situations.
Mormons are known to be industrious people. What 'Gene' takes to the extreme is his reckless endangerment in trusting "God and His Angels" to protect them when doing dangerous work, work people do every day in my neighborhood and all around the world. That's pretty extreme religious faith. Expecting the kids to pitch in on the family business is not so extreme. These are the beehive people who work and toil together. It reaches deep into their values.
Tara was also not chained to home. She leaves, going to the local theater, going on dates with a public school boy, leaving with him in a vehicle alone (I was surprised by this!), she works for outsiders away from her home. This was not an isolated or imprisoned upbringing, or even -speaking from experience- a particularly strict one.

A common misconception seems to be that Tara Westover grew up in poverty. I never got that impression at any point. She never, ever lacked food, warmth, or a solid roof over her head. The equipment she speaks of -heavy equipment, backhoes- these are very costly things. Dance, singing lessons, pianos - these are not part of an impoverished upbringing. Her father stock piled silver and buried tanks of fuel. Cars and funds always appear when she needs them. (In all fairness, I don't think she was trying to give that impression, some people just made that wrong association. I gather that her family has been pretty successful.)
Poverty and radicalism are very different things. Many children in our world go without every single day. Tara did not.

The women's subjection was repulsive.
But what better fortune to fall into when you have family that frightens you so, than to be handed the opportunity to go live on a prestigious campus on another continent?!
It's likely telling of some psychological dependency that she kept going back, years and years into her worldly education, but I didn't get why she kept doing it, and also couldn't help but wonder how this was funded. Tara Westover was not your typical struggling college student, working to make ends meet. Things seem to come to her increasingly easily and without explanation as she becomes a world jet setter.

The book lost all beauty for me when I realized it was an account of family drama. Paraphrased emails and letters, he said/she said. Flying home, flying home, constantly returning to the things she's trying to convince us were terrible!
Many, many people have had family drama in their life, and I don't feel that part of her story merits a book. It became repetitive, bitter, even petty at times. I felt she was trying too hard to convince me as a reader how bad her family is.
Her education process is what I was interested in - that she was in the dark about so much (especially socially and historically), yet continued to high levels. But that experience is mostly glossed over. The majority of the book is about family members, her need to expose everything she could about them, and her lengthy saga to let go.
I found myself at odds with her, thinking, "wise up already and stay away! Start learning from the world around you! Seize these incredible opportunities!"
I also found myself relating to her at times: "Separation has brought me peace." But that was a single sentence in a very brief conclusion, and I didn't get the feeling from her book that she really is at peace.
That, I think, is the biggest flaw of the book for me. I don't think Tara Westover has reached a healthy place to tell her story from, in a way that rises above and inspires.

I've seen Educated compared to The Glass Castle.
I loved The Glass Castle . The thing that set it apart for me was the spirit that I find missing here. Jeanette Walls had a resilient, buoyant spirit, resourceful, and never bitter or resentful. Here, I feel as if I have stepped into the middle of an ugly family feud. Tara may have finally separated herself, but this book feels like she's still waging battle - her internal struggle continues, and that's not a healthy place to write a book from.
Her parents and bully brother may have it coming, but, for example, 'Shawn's' wife and small children are now victims of having details of their personal lives exploited on the national best seller list. The victim took on the role of victimizer. That doesn't inspire me.

Westover, despite her childhood account, had so incredibly much privilege and opportunity that others could work or dream a lifetime for and never see. There was no real gratitude or recognition of that. It crossed my mind that maybe she was so sheltered / naive that she doesn't realize how fortunate she is in the higher education she received. And that maybe she doesn't realize how abused and neglected and impoverished some children grow up. Tara's story became one of immense privilege.
The lack of any gratitude for her opportunities and those who helped her to this privileged life she's now living, translated to a lack of grace and left me feeling a disconnect. I feel she was in a rush to write her memoir for spiteful reasons, when she might gain from spending more time learning from the world now that she's conquered the classroom. I believe she still has a lot of important things to learn.

Tara Westover has every right to tell her story.
The trouble was, I didn't feel she did a thorough job of that. What / Who has she become? what is she going to do with her education? What kind of life is she leading? In the end I have no idea what she is going to do with her educated self! Key ingredient to any inspiring memoir!

Instead she focused on telling other peoples stories, and it felt a little toxic. I believe in fairness and truth, and there is no way for me to know what I just read.
From her brother Tyler's intelligent and tactful review: "In her book, in numerous places, Tara interprets for me and other members of my family things that we did, said, thought, and even felt. I cannot speak for the other members of my family, but in my case I think in many instances she greatly incorrectly conveyed my experiences."

Rather than a book about education, this felt like reading a one side of a tell-all family drama. It left a bitter aftertaste.
It didn't win me over.
The more consideration I give it, the less satisfied I've become.

I highly recommend Liz Murray's Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard. It's an amazing memoir.
Cea Person's North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both is another good read.