Page-Turner Reads More Like a Novel than a Memoir

Lydia had nominated the best-seller, Educated, by Tara Westover, before reading it. While reading and preparing to present the book to us for discussion, she read a review of the book on the “National Review” website and shared it with us before the discussion. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/02/book-review-educated-tara-westover-shares-too-much-too-soon/ The review went into the shock factor of the publication of Educated and how readers couldn’t help but be upset and worried for the author while reading about her childhood. The reviewer criticized the publication of Educated as showing that Westover had not resolved her own issues before publishing the memoir about her terrible and terrifying childhood. This theme seemed to reverberate throughout the book. I found myself commenting several times in our group discussion that the author was severely damaged emotionally during the time before and even during her writing the book. The author didn’t ever wrap up the book with redemption, though it was clear she had tried very hard to achieve some before publishing the book. The reviewer indicated that the author described the events that had caused her abundance of physical and emotional distress but still had not healed from the complex emotional abuse she had suffered.

Lydia and several other members of our Book Club found the book difficult to read, because of the painful, sad, and frightening experiences Westover suffered and also because of the lack of resolution. Some of the hordes of readers of Educated enjoyed the book for its page-turner adventures and descriptions. I suspect that the author herself, as well as most of those readers expected the book to end with the author making some healing conclusions and indicating that she was moving forward with her life.

Lydia’s first question stated that Westover’s getting the book written and published was a real achievement at great emotional cost. And the question? Why did Westover publish the memoir? Joyce chimed in, saying it was probably self-therapy. Lydia restated the question: Why did she publish it? Joyce thought a moment and suggested that Westover figured that as an academic, it would look good on her resume! Laughter! Linda said it was amazing that Tara got an education. Joyce answered that it was amazing that she survived her childhood. Linda suggested that, instead of Educated, the title of the book should have been Against All Odds, after the author had suffered abuse instigated by her parents’ fanatical religion. Everyone agreed. Joyce reiterated that Westover had been in dangerous situations. Pam reminded us that the book, Remember, that we recently discussed advised that if you don’t want to remember an experience, you shouldn’t talk about or write about it. But Tara did both, keeping the memory alive. Pam wondered why the author would want to dwell on her difficult childhood or see revisiting it as therapeutic. Pam said that Westover might actually have been pressured to publish and that she really didn’t have anything else to write about. Lydia mentioned the aphorism, “Write about what you know.” Joyce added that Westover had filled a lot of personal journals over the years. Pam said she had been a little skeptical about truth when reading the memoir. Marcia agreed, saying that in the book, Remember, some of our memories aren’t fully true and are often embellished. She said it was good that Westover got away from her family. Linda agreed, saying that it was Westover’s education that helped her get away and was likely the reason for the book’s title. Then Linda mentioned the book Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance (nominated in our group but not chosen). Discussion about Hillbilly Elegy ensued, and Pam summed up the comparison, saying Hillbilly was not about a situation as difficult as that in Educated. Linda agreed, noting that Hillbilly described less abuse. Joanne said there was more ignorance than abuse in Hillbilly Elegy. Linda noted that the people in Hillbilly Elegy had more opioid abuse. Marcia brought us back to Educated, saying that the author’s brother, called Shawn (though the author changed her family’s names, to keep them safe in case readers would attack them physically), will eventually kill somebody. The religion was fanatical, and Shawn was fanatical and became dangerous. Tara’s clicking her fingers to cope indicated mental illness. Linda brought up the aspect of Christian Scientists refusing to go to doctors as an example of religious fanaticism. As a nurse, Marcia had experienced Christian Scientist parents who didn’t want their kids treated medically, which caused problems for the medical professionals who wanted to help them.

 As usual, our discussion brought up a lot of topics we found interesting when reading Educated, a bunch of them having to do with religious beliefs and some from the results in more current society of original and now old, beliefs. Abuse, control, men’s treatment of women, and the vagaries of prepping for disaster were all touched upon. Another fun and stimulating discussion at the RRNN Book Club!