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A review by amber_lea84
Educated by Tara Westover
5.0
I highly recommend this book. It's not often that I can make such a statement without reservation, but this book is incredibly well-written and I would recommend it to anyone. It's not a light-hearted read, but Tara Westover is brilliant.
Tara was raised by a tyrannical survivalist Mormon father (who is terrified of the Illuminati) in the mountains of Idaho completely isolated from mainstream America, which is why I picked it up after only reading the jacket flap. These are three of my favorite topics: crazy families, extreme survivalists, and cults. I mean, really it's four of my favorite topics because I can listen to people rant about the Illuminati all day.
But what I wasn't expecting was how articulate and measured Tara is. She treats her past with a kindness and honesty that I find admirable. It's not just a rushed tirade about how her family is insane, which is what it would probably be if this was my life and I wrote about it. She takes the time to talk about everything. She talks about all her thoughts and feelings though the years, especially the positive ones. She talks about what was good at great length, and she talks about her shifting perspective with a kind of objectivity that I admire. At times I felt she was too kind, and at first I thought it was because she didn't have the conviction to blame her family for how awful they are, but having finished the book I think it's more likely that she's moved past blame and anger into a kind of acceptance that the past is what it is.
I'm guessing this book was a cathartic exercise for the author, and I think it feels cathartic as the reader. At least as a reader who's had her own fair share of crazy life experiences. She wasn't just honest about how she was hurt, but how she hurt others. She was honest about the good times and the bad. She explored the nature of reality and our perceptions of it. She shared what it was like to go from having other people think for you to thinking for yourself, and how important that struggle is and it's just...so good. I was so engrossed in this book I actually lost track of time, which is something that never happens to me.
The only thing that sucks about this book is the knowledge that Shawn is a real person in the world, and not some just some douchehat fictional character.
Tara was raised by a tyrannical survivalist Mormon father (who is terrified of the Illuminati) in the mountains of Idaho completely isolated from mainstream America, which is why I picked it up after only reading the jacket flap. These are three of my favorite topics: crazy families, extreme survivalists, and cults. I mean, really it's four of my favorite topics because I can listen to people rant about the Illuminati all day.
But what I wasn't expecting was how articulate and measured Tara is. She treats her past with a kindness and honesty that I find admirable. It's not just a rushed tirade about how her family is insane, which is what it would probably be if this was my life and I wrote about it. She takes the time to talk about everything. She talks about all her thoughts and feelings though the years, especially the positive ones. She talks about what was good at great length, and she talks about her shifting perspective with a kind of objectivity that I admire. At times I felt she was too kind, and at first I thought it was because she didn't have the conviction to blame her family for how awful they are, but having finished the book I think it's more likely that she's moved past blame and anger into a kind of acceptance that the past is what it is.
I'm guessing this book was a cathartic exercise for the author, and I think it feels cathartic as the reader. At least as a reader who's had her own fair share of crazy life experiences. She wasn't just honest about how she was hurt, but how she hurt others. She was honest about the good times and the bad. She explored the nature of reality and our perceptions of it. She shared what it was like to go from having other people think for you to thinking for yourself, and how important that struggle is and it's just...so good. I was so engrossed in this book I actually lost track of time, which is something that never happens to me.
The only thing that sucks about this book is the knowledge that Shawn is a real person in the world, and not some just some douchehat fictional character.