I always thought that I valued my access to a free education, but this really let me see, that here in this country there are those who go wanting

Tara Westover tells the story of her life (up until recently) and how she was denied an education by her strict, mentally unbalanced father and her mother who was complicit in his exploitative and cruel tactics to control her family

My family genuinely valued formal education and pressed that upon us in everything we did, from my grandmother and mother being school teachers to all of us being told in every way possible that education was important and that we were expected to excel at school

I couldn't help but cheer her on the entire time - from a father who opposes education to a PhD at Cambridge, I am in awe of her!

This book really romanticizes higher education (and I specifically mean education beyond a bachelor’s degree), to the point where I became weary reading it--for example, talking about walking through Rome, feeling the history of it, and passing the days discussing the ideals of philosophers with her friends

I shared emotions with the writer and the frustration of struggling to get a good education and the obstacles she overcame to do so.

Education, knowledge, and life experiences are so important to becoming our best person we can be; kudos to Tara for choosing this path, while continuing to try to reconnect with her past and family.

Education is powerful, clearly life-altering for Tara.

Reading this book made me realize how very fortunate I was to grow up in a large loving family that encouraged us all to get a good education

No formal education but managed to teach herselfWith some help ,enough to enter college andEarn a PHD.

Education is powerful and this book shows the reader just how powerful it is

It is the story of the struggle of a bright, talented girl to escape the chains of parents who feared human society and who scorned education and medicine

Raises so many questions about control, relationship dynamics, mental health, women's empowerment and, yes, even education.

I was hoping that her education would offer her redemption and that she would move to some sort of enlightenment or on with her life.

Which leads me to believe, that Westover's childhood probably included more education and interaction with her community than she would like her readers to believe.

This is an amazing story of how a young girl pulls herself out of an abusive, crazed household to a fine education and future

If this was fiction I would have said the heroine is frustratingly and irritatingly too stubborn and too stupid (despite her illustrious education) to see right from earlier on that there was no other choice but to lose the family, and take definite actions to stay as far away as possible and make her own new life

Secondary education is not that hard once you understand the systems

Her education is very encouraging

The years of free “grant” education that gave her a doctorate in intellectual history would not be an effective nor practical trail for most any other student.

It is a testimony not only to the value of a great education but also the positive impact that a caring educator can have on a young person’s life.

Author put herself out there to all of us in reliving her childhood; choosing a better life and education for herself.

Tara Westover shows the world how education is not just in a formal system even if lacking through the years.

Education empowers

Education was her liberation and she becomes transformed.

So if the central premise is this unanticipated, against-all-odds education she procures, how do we explain the brothers

While reading this book, I came to appreciate my own education, the education I give as a public school teacher and the education, Dr. Westover gained with her strength and determination.

She labored desperately to catch up on an almost nonexistent education

Educated should be read by anyone who thinks education for the poor is free; there are personal and societal costs.

1. that a family could live so removed from the mainstream, flying under the radar, their children not getting any education in this century and 2 the overwhelming odds that had to be overcome for Tara to break free of her dysfunctional family of origin

The author’s determined and successful efforts to wrest an education from the system after an almost zero

" Different setting, different time, was disturbing and my Education was interrupted in many ways, was not as cut and dried as it seems.

It is hard to believe that anyone could have not only survived the atmosphere of the home Tara describes, but that the person could achieve enough education to write as well as she did.

I was floored just by the notion that Tara’s parents believed getting an education was a sin

She must decide whether a fulfilled life out in the world, enjoying soda and an education and sleeveless shirts, is worth losing her family

I'd expected significantly more details of the ins and outs of gaining a formal education from such a young age but the memoir is almost entirely about Westover and her family

I love how the author came to realize that in an uncertain world, where ties that bind can sometimes turn into puppet strings, education empowers those struggling for freedom

Against so many odds, the author got a top notch education and escaped (physically) from her pathetic family.

Despite all of this, and lacking any high school education except her own reading, she ends up with a PhD 10 years from the date of the first time she stepped in a classroom.

Although the author achieved a significant education, she certainly was (is?

I had a great education in history, biology, chemistry, physics, and much much more.

However, the main character was able to work through the issues and realize how important a good education can be.

The amazing thing is that the author recognized the disfunction in her family.... this education was difficult but released her from the turmoil.

This is an example of how powerful education is in a setting and perspective that I would have never guessed

I saw firsthand how these families interacted and how education was not important

Tara's conflict comes from her innate desire to exist in the life of her family and her thirst for the knowledge and education that was denied to her

I certainly enjoyed her story and her sharp, reflective prose, but I worry about the implications of romanticizing higher education with no real analysis of its pros and cons.

Secondly, and more importantly, what I find rather disturbing, is that despite the formidable education she accomplished, she protects that family, her bipolar (her words) father and her cruel and violent elder brother

Book club choice, not sure I will ever finish it, just how many major accident can a whole family have without anyone getting killed, losing a limb or dying from complications, I will be giving it a D for Delusional.

I should think that abuse as brutal as she described and the family denial will take her much longer to recover from than she describe

Tara’s story might help people to better understand who they are and inspire them to make themselves a fundamental change in their lives, as well as it might help the world, the public opinion, and people in position of leadership to better understand the dramatic lives of people isolated from education and health services

Furthermore, like her old sect, her new religion will reward her so long as she follows its tenets.

Brave as in everything she went

n’t put down but dread seeing it end.

n’t write another book unless she has actually freed her mind.

n’t think the author is lying (as others claim)