Educated memoir- Tara Westover

[Anonymous]

You can see the house and the junkyard on Google Earth and Streetview, and it wasn't what I imagined. I thought of them living up on a hill with a view down over town, but the road seems relatively flat (though there are rolling hills in the background), and isn't as far from town as I'd imagined, either.

[Anonymous]

I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

It's weird that he doesn't have any visible scars. His lips were mentioned multiple times. Now I am really wondering about her account.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked by the health issues they left untreated and the casual cruelty of her father at the junk yard. Throwing things like sheet metal and injuring others daily? Also the moms oils are such a hoax!

Did anyone think her brother sexually abused her? The way she wrote about the physical abuse from him made me think it was really sexual abuse and she didn't want to put that in a memoir. She has a lock on her door for instance.

Yeah, I got that vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked by the health issues they left untreated and the casual cruelty of her father at the junk yard. Throwing things like sheet metal and injuring others daily? Also the moms oils are such a hoax!

Did anyone think her brother sexually abused her? The way she wrote about the physical abuse from him made me think it was really sexual abuse and she didn't want to put that in a memoir. She has a lock on her door for instance.

Yeah, I got that vibe.

I did too. I wonder if her journals reflect it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I picked it up but thought it sounded too similar to The Glass Castle. I loved that book, but didn't feel like I needed another read so much like it. For those who have read both, is this one worth it to read too?

I've read both, and they are different. While both deal with non-traditional, neglectful parenting, in the Glass Castle there is still a feeling of love, and the Walls' suffered through poverty. The Westovers had two sets of involved grandparents. The parents while crazy and neglectful, always had ways to make money, and a roof over their head.

I preferred The Glass Castle, but Educated still ends up being an interesting read. Also, the events in Educated are relatively recent. I'd say more, but it may spoil the book for you.

Also, Walls is a better writer. Her story flows easier and doesn't feel over embellished. In an effort to give her siblings credit for their versions of the story, Westover loses a bit of credibility.

I did not enjoy The Glass Castle at all. i read it three years ago, and I don't have notes as to why, but I do remember just not liking it and not getting the praise for it. I disagree entirely that Walls is a better writer. I really enjoyed Educated, on the other hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

What photos? How do you know you have the right person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

What photos? How do you know you have the right person?

Facebook photos. It was pretty easy. She mentions her mom’s oil business in the book. I looked it up, found her mom. I immediately found her brothers who used their actual names in the book. I found “Shawn” by looking at pictures. I found her sister through the business web page. Her sisters name is Tara’s Dad and mom’s name combined. Her sister posted pictures of her dad. It was super easy to find and connect.

[Anonymous]

Ok guys, do you tho knits her dad in this commercial?
https://youtu.be/hiI0fL3hN4E


If so, I might start buying the oils myself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok guys, do you tho knits her dad in this commercial?
https://youtu.be/hiI0fL3hN4E


If so, I might start buying the oils myself

No, that’s not her dad. Her dad is older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

What photos? How do you know you have the right person?

I’m a DP who made the same comment about the dad upthread a few months ago. I found her mom’s FB page where she had a picture of him labeled with his name from about 2009. I haven’t seen the 2017 pictures.

And no it wasn’t the same guy in the linked commercial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok guys, do you tho knits her dad in this commercial?
https://youtu.be/hiI0fL3hN4E


If so, I might start buying the oils myself

Is that ad for real? Like really something they made for the business??

[Anonymous]

What names are you all searching on FB?

Faye Westover?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have now found her sister and more recent photos of her dad (2017). He does not have any visible scars from what I can tell. I'm really surprised her family didn't lock down their accounts and photos.

It's weird that he doesn't have any visible scars. His lips were mentioned multiple times. Now I am really wondering about her account.

And the “claw hand”. Didn’t see that either.

Also, the incidents in the junkyard, the “who walked him back down the mountain” comments, well, the junkyard IS the backyard. Too much embellishment. She should have know people would have stalked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed the story but wasn't blown away like the others here seem to have been. I've read memoir's that drew me in more and where the evolution of the person made more sense to me.

It wasn't clear where her drive to learn and change came from. Her decisions seemed to just happen.

Not that she isn't incredible and her story isn't meaningful. Just the narrative didn't strike me as it seemed to others.

Just got off the library waitlist.

Agree with this. I am still marveling as to how you can go from no schooling to a 28 on the ACT. Not that she wasn't smart but there had to be huge gaps in her learning and it would seem she needed a lot of remedial work. While growing up, her reading material was extremely limited. She seemed to gloss over it.