If [J. D.] Vance's memoir offered street-heroin-grade drama, [Tara] Westover's is carfentanil, the stuff that tranquilizes elephants. The extremity of Westover's upbringing emerges gradually through her telling, which only makes the telling more alluring and harrowing. . . . By the end, Westover...
číst celé
If [J. D.] Vance's memoir offered street-heroin-grade drama, [Tara] Westover's is carfentanil, the stuff that tranquilizes elephants. The extremity of Westover's upbringing emerges gradually through her telling, which only makes the telling more alluring and harrowing. . . . By the end, Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.-The New York Times Book Review
Living proof that some people are flat-out, boots-always-laced-up indomitable . . . a heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir about striding beyond the limitations of birth and environment into a better life.-USA Today
Riveting . . . Westover brings readers deep into this world, a milieu usually hidden from outsiders. . . . Her story is remarkable, as each extreme anecdote described in tidy prose attests.-The Economist
A coming-of-age memoir reminiscent of The Glass Castle.-O: The Oprah Magazine
Incredibly thought-provoking . . . so much more than a memoir about a woman who graduated college without a formal education. It is about a woman who must learn how to learn.-The Harvard Crimson
Heart-wrenching . . . a beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives.-Amy Chua, The New York Times
Propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of her childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?-Vogue
A subtle, nuanced study of how dysfunction of any kind can be normalized even within the most conventional family structure, and of the damage such containment can do.-Financial Times
Westover's extraordinary memoir is haunting in the best way, delivering a powerful coming-of-age saga.-Paste
Westover's one-of-a-kind memoir is about the shaping of a mind. . . . In briskly paced prose, she evokes a childhood that completely defined her. Yet it was also, she gradually sensed, deforming her.-The Atlantic
Whether narrating scenes of fury and violence or evoking rural landscapes or tortured self-analysis, Westover writes with uncommon intelligence and grace. . . . One of the most improbable and fascinating journeys I've read in recent years.-Newsday
This gripping coming-of-age story shows a woman's world being opened through education.-Refinery29
Raw and unflinching . . . lyrical and literary.-Library Journal
An astonishing account of deprivation, confusion, survival, and success.-Kirkus Reviews
At its heart, her memoir is a family history: not just a tale of overcoming but an uncertain elegy to the life that she ultimately rejected. Westover manages both tenderness and a savage honesty that spares no one, not even herself.-Booklist
schovat popis
Recenze
Untraditional childhood with no birth certificate or public school, being sheltered from world happenings and having almost zero knowledge of history, dealing with volatile family and their unconventional lifestyle... I couldn’t stop reading once Tara’s sheltered world clashed with the world out there when she entered school for the first time at the age of seventeen. Author didn’t take any shortcuts while writing her memoir and I ate it all up.
For a debut, Educated has not only engaging content but also surprisingly beautiful prose. The writing flows easily and makes this book readable in the best way possible. I’m not sure if this book was a one time thing or not, but Tara Westover is definitely and author to look out for and I truly hope she tries her hand at writing a fiction as well.
I rarely read memoirs, mainly because I struggle with the lack of storytelling in them since memoirs are usually full of only-telling-no-showing writing style. However, this memoir reads like a novel and the fact that it describes real events only strengthens the reading experience. So even if you are strictly a novel reader like me, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to you even though it is a nonfictional one. You won’t regret it!