Book Review: Educated by Tara Westover.

Book: Educated

Author: Tara Westover

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Pages: 334

Read On: Kindle

How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days

Plot Summary: Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.
Things I Liked:

1. I don't quite know what I expected when I started reading this book. Sure, I knew it's premise, a woman who came from a family that didn't ever send her to school or value mainstream education, goes on to get her Phd from Cambridge. I mean its pretty remarkable. And if the book had been just about that, a woman's journey from a literal junkyard and to the hallowed halls of Harvard, it would have been interesting and riveting. But it was so much more than what I expected from it. It was about a family, a very, very uniquely dysfunctional family, of survival, abuse and belonging and knowing that you belong. This book and it's people took my breath away...and not always in a good way!

2. The writing is simple but stirring. You find yourself right beside the writer wherever she goes. Her home, the junkyard, college...you find yourself rooted to the spot with her. You feel her anxiety, her self doubt and her fears. She does a wonderful job of taking her life, which is significantly different from mine but make it oddly familiar.

3. Family. You would read a million different books about family and yet find a new shade or nuance that you haven't encountered before. Our families are core to our world view, at least in the beginning. The way we see the world, and how we perceive others is often shaped by our parents and how they see other people and the world at large. As we grow older, hopefully with more exposure and more introspection we form our own views. But what if your family and how they see the rest of the world is deeply problematic? What they are just wrong about everything? Imagine growing up in a home like that, growing up hating the government and medicines and schools. This family and their dynamics and how they live will stay with you long after the book is over. And it will (hopefully) make you love and be grateful for your own family. I kept thinking, no matter how crazy (I mean this in the best way possible) my own parents are, I am so grateful for the childhood I had.

4. This book isn't always an easy read. It was actually quite hard to stomach in several parts. It's infuriating and horrifying. I don't normally believing in critiquing anyone's parenting style but man...these people should not be raising kids. It was downright dangerous how these kids were raised. There are so many accidents and scrapes and injuries, its a miracle these kids even made it to adulthood. I wanted in so many parts jump in and shake these people. Do better for your kids!

5. TRIGGER WARNING: The book has descriptions of physical and psychological abuse, gaslighting and violence. If these are triggering for you in anyway, I'd recommend you stay away from this book. Seriously, don't read it. The way this is shown and brought to life was just unnerving and serves as an excellent example of how people and sometimes even entire families can gaslight and belittle an individual.

6. I love how Tara's evolution, so to speak, happens in little spurts and not all at once. It's not like she steps into the outside world and is immediately 'educated' or knows better. It takes time to shed your old skin, too find you own voice and know your own opinions and mind. And even with that, there are moments of doubt, moments of wondering if all your old ways were indeed flawed.

7. I am a big champion of education. Learning, knowledge and books will always be something I support and hold to the highest standard. But even me with my love for education didn't realise how much I took it for granted. And how much more schooling and being in a 'regular' educational set-up teaches you. The things we, the conventionally educated take for granted, you like how to take an exam, how to write an essay or even things we learn about the world from our books and school. For instance, Tara goes to college not knowing about the Holocaust. Not knowing what the word means, let alone about the tragedy.

8. The book does an excellent job by the end showing how much money and finances affect the family unit. That the one who holds the purse strings is the one who wields the most control. And even those who doesn't necessarily agree with certain events and things, keep quiet to stay in the good books of those who control their finances. This happens all the time and it's sad but so true.

9. I am always nosy about how other people live. And seeing any family unit and their dynamics is, perhaps the most interesting thing for me to read about in any book and this book was no different. I loved reading about how Tara's family lived and how the dynamics of the family evolved and shifted over time. I am so glad this book was not just about her academics, but also about this messy, complicated, strange family of hers. This book had sat unread on my Kindle for years because I had assumed it would just be about her education, but I am glad to report it isn't and for me, perhaps, the parts about her family life and dynamics were much more interesting than her quest for getting educated.

10. As someone who has studied psychology, this book is a treasure trove of how living with someone's untreated mental illness can be so harmful, how brainwashing works and how it touches every aspect of your life if you've grown up in a toxic environment.

Rating: 4/5