334 pages

Published February 20th 2018 by Random House

Synopsis:

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.

---

I pick up this one in the middle of exam weeks. It's weird how I keep having this tendency to do things other than doing my revision when I am supposed to read my textbook instead. It took me a week to finish this as I only read them before I went to bad, it is the only time I can read without feeling guilty over the fact that uhm I have to study for those exam. 'Educated' has been in my wish list for quite some time and it is worth the time. 

It is non-fiction, a memoir about the author Tara Westover who was brought up in the mountain of Idaho with the premises set up by her parents that everything related to the federal government is a form of illuminati. That also means, no school, no hospital, no anything related to government at all. She was 'homeschooled' similar to her other older siblings, repressed from getting a formal education like other children of her age. 

Sounds familiar isn't?

Yep. That earth-is-flat people.

Reading 'Educated' makes me furious, fumes with anger with her parents' way of manipulating her into having the same idiotic ideologies. Tara struggles but she managed to get into college, where she made a huge impression to one of her lecturers later getting support into Cambridge and Harvard. Her unusual path into getting education is basically the main theme of this book. We can see the environment could shape a person's attitude. We can see the reality faced by the children of people whom strongly against the formal education and blindly following religions, tossing away the worldly matters.

"First find out what you are capable of, then decide who you are."

This book was divided into three part; the first two I would say emotionally engaging - depends on how you are going to digest the whole 'fumes'. There are people who cannot handle them and decided to put it aside for awhile, like me. The last part - I have no word to describe how warm it is. It just means that there are things we need to learn to embrace and accept :)

This book has won a number of literary awards too. If you are looking for something that is non-fictional but highly engaging - I would recommend this one.