Sign in with Facebook
Tatiana's Reviews > Educated
Educated
by
by
I don't want to disregard Tara Westover's life experiences or not believe her, so I am going have to settle on one of two options:
1) either she is not a very good writer;
2) or her memories are often faulty and/or selective, with an emphasis on the macabre and tragic, which is understandable I guess.
Much of Tara's misfortunes and fortunes seem to make no sense, or not explained well in the context of her life story. There are multiple miraculous recoveries from numerous life-threatening untreated injuries, a lot of magical money appearing out of nowhere to pay for things Tara needed, a bunch benevolent men throwing opportunities and scholarships at her. Either Tara was a very naturally gifted student or an extremely hard-working student, it's hard to tell. No case was made for either of these possibilities, if I accept that she had received NO structured education. (Does BYU have such low standards BTW?)
The survivalist angle was entirely overblown by publicity around this book. If anything, Tara's family was careless and sloppy, with their main oddity being not believing in modern medicine. Canning peaches is not survivalism as far as I know. And it's quite hard to claim to be closed off from the world if you have TV, phone, internet and take dance classes in town.
Too much of this story smells like BS, and I am not talking about the abuse, I have no reason to doubt that. It's the details that are a complete mess. The gaslighting Tara had experienced at the hands of her family was the most compelling part of her story actually.
1) either she is not a very good writer;
2) or her memories are often faulty and/or selective, with an emphasis on the macabre and tragic, which is understandable I guess.
Much of Tara's misfortunes and fortunes seem to make no sense, or not explained well in the context of her life story. There are multiple miraculous recoveries from numerous life-threatening untreated injuries, a lot of magical money appearing out of nowhere to pay for things Tara needed, a bunch benevolent men throwing opportunities and scholarships at her. Either Tara was a very naturally gifted student or an extremely hard-working student, it's hard to tell. No case was made for either of these possibilities, if I accept that she had received NO structured education. (Does BYU have such low standards BTW?)
The survivalist angle was entirely overblown by publicity around this book. If anything, Tara's family was careless and sloppy, with their main oddity being not believing in modern medicine. Canning peaches is not survivalism as far as I know. And it's quite hard to claim to be closed off from the world if you have TV, phone, internet and take dance classes in town.
Too much of this story smells like BS, and I am not talking about the abuse, I have no reason to doubt that. It's the details that are a complete mess. The gaslighting Tara had experienced at the hands of her family was the most compelling part of her story actually.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Educated.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
February 13, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
February 13, 2018
– Shelved
March 20, 2018
–
Started Reading
March 20, 2018
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
March 26, 2018
– Shelved as:
2018
March 26, 2018
–
Finished Reading
May 24, 2018
– Shelved as:
why-the-hype
Comments Showing 1-21 of 21 (21 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Francesca
(new)
Mar 27, 2018 04:27AM
I heard her interviewing, and yeah, the gaslighting sounds like it was severe.
reply
|
flag
Yes it was publicized completely wrong. It should have been more about the abuse.
I knew Tara at BYU. It is probably the hardest undergraduate school to get into in the intermountain west region. However, if anyone could manage it, it is Tara. She is very smart, and she was hardworking, but I think her real brilliance lies in never giving up and finding a way forward when there isn't one.
I believe every word of this book. She’s an excellent writer and obviously gifted.
Tara is an amazing writer. She wouldn’t have gotten into Cambridge if she wasn’t and achieved all she has. Doubt if you want but believing and supporting someone who (even if you don’t “believe” all of It) has obviously still been through so much is so much more uplifting. She’s a gifted lady and I’m so glad she shared her story. It could help many who feel trapped by abuse and limits they have been born into perhaps.
Thanks for your review! I completely agree that the most believable part of this book was the portrayal of family neglect and abuse. The multiple miraculous recoveries from severe life-threatening injuries? That's far more difficult to believe.
Westover says multiple times that she isn’t sure that her memories are correct, while making claims. The problem with decades of narcissistic abuse is that it causes “crazy making”. She’s likely telling the full truth, but minor details may be off.
I agree w you. There is a bit of an exaggeration perhaps because certain things arent coherent. Super intense reclusive crazies but with internet, everyone seems to have a car and the dance classes you mention.
There is always a lot of what you might call poetic license with memoirs but this book seemed over the top. I do believe that a person can grow up with no formal education and manage to get into university and excel. This book made me so elicited so much anger in me that I could not even rate it. There was not one thing about it that I can say I enjoyed. If this book were a fiction novel and not a memoir I would have rated it as totally unbelievable.
As we grow and develop, so do our memories. My first memories, I was three, and my brother died. When I described my memories to my mother, she told me some never happened. Parts did. I suspect this happens to all of us. There are enough facts to reach a conclusion. I think this is what happened to Tara. In her case, there are enough facts to point to gross abuse from many family members.
I did wonder how they got so many peaches for cheap and where and how they would lug them around for survival.
Am I the only one still worried about Shawn's wife and kids? I feel like a lot of people reading this story have forgotten that this is happening now and to real people. Shouldn't there be some kind of police investigation following the publishing of a book like this?
Avid Audiobooker- no you arent the only one. I even put it in my review. There was remarkably little empathy among any of the family toward anyone, even themselves. I fear for Shawns wife's safety.
If you wish to understand the nature of human evil, consider reading Dr. M. Scot Peck's seminal work, "People of the Lie". I read it years ago and it is simply the best explanation of what evil looks like (and, yes, I don't doubt any of what "Educated" outlined). I am also the daughter of a manic-depressive parent. This book is credible.
A lot of her father's beliefs weren't that rational, and his plan for survival was not strictly about survival: it was also strongly faith based. The contradictions of his rules did make sense, as they changed according to his state of mind and concurrent circumstances. Tara mentioned they did get a TV shortly before the Y2K fiasco, and that the Internet connection came later, when their business was growing and Tara's mother had some more influence about how to run things.
I got to page 98 and could not go on...seems so repetitive and a bit fabricated
Yes, BYU's standards are low. For active members of the church, it's a very affordable and very accessible school. As for the survivalist mentality not lining up with the facts of her story, I think it's important to understand that the author's father did not become a prepper because he read some manifesto, or whatever materials non-denominational prepper types might have. If there is a rule book for that lifestyle, he probably never read it. His mental illness, combined with his interpretation of the teachings of Mormonism led to the family living the way they did. Speaking from similar experience (raised by orthodox Mormon parents who called scripture study and household chores "homeschooling") even within the church there isn't a framework for this. There's no rulebook. If the one in charge decides that watching The Honeymooners is okay, it IS okay, even if it wasn't okay two weeks ago. If they decide milk is sinful but a lifetime supply of honey is righteousness, them's the rules. If having a phone is verboten, up until it becomes too inconvenient and unprofitable to not have one, then the rules can change very easily. That's the problem with any organization that is directed entirely by a single individual, but especially when he claims to speak for god.
Pretty much agree. Sadly, her abuse and the denial everybody was in so long about it was NOT the most unbelievable part of the story for me either. If the father was mentally ill that would help explain the many contradictions in his lifestyle, too. For me, a lot of the problem is in little the details, for example how a midwife's daughter wouldn't understand the importance of handwashing. I still have the last 2 discs of the audiobook to go.
BYU is not terribly hard to get into if you are an active Mormon. I was raised LDS and while Tara’s story does not represent the majority of Mormons, I can see the doctrine of the LDS church, taken to the extreme, in many of the values practiced by her family of origin and her extended family (but in different ways). For this reason, I found it believable. It just takes a certain personality, or someone with a particular mental illness, to interpret self-reliance, and other Mormon beliefs, in this particular way.
I think Educated is almost all fiction. I searched online for family & neighbors comments. She starred in the musical Annie when she was 9, took piano, voice & ballet lessons, had a piano, computer, internet growing up. The family went to the dentist regularly and she had braces. That is not impoverished or backwards Her father isn't scarred. Her parents went to Utah State University.
