Educated by Tara Westover

On Monday, September 9th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Educated by Tara Westover. 

Here are some of the comments readers made while discussing Educated:

• I liked the writing style, the story itself flowed, and it was an intense story. In the end the story left me hanging, there were too many unresolved issues.
• Some parts of the story rang false. Especially when the father was badly burned, I did not think he could have been medically treated in the way described and still have survived.
• The story was more about surviving then about education or religion. She was a true survivor and it was a miracle she lived through her father’s extremist beliefs.
• The entire family showed signs of intelligence, even Shawn.
• I liked the footnotes and the way she explained that she did her best to accurately remember what had happened, even going as far as asking her brothers what their recollections were.
• I felt the theme was “how you define the truth for yourself.” She had a life, thankfully none of us will ever experience, and now she has to decide what views she will define for herself. She definitely seemed to be suffering from PTSD.
• She also seemed to be self-destructive in the way she kept trying to reconnect with her family. She could also have also been suffering from Stockholm syndrome. I was happy she was able to connect with her extended family.
• If this happened anywhere else other than this secluded rural community, DCF would be out right away charging the parents with child neglect.
• This story is far from over, there could also of been sexual abuse that she is not ready to deal with yet. The mental and physical abuse she endured will be with her for a long time.
• Her parents did teach her how to work hard and how to survive in the outdoors. To succeed most people need help, fortunately she had some help with her brother, roommate, and professors.
• I felt the story was about what it means to be true to oneself and how loyalty to family plays out against self-worth and self-knowledge.
• I wondered what the Mormon Church thought of this book and was happy to learn that they were complimentary and supportive of the book.
• While this was a worthwhile read, I would not recommend it to everyone.

These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.