Mednarodna svetovna uspešnica Educated, pisateljice Tare Westover, opisuje njeno izjemno pot tako izobrazbe kot osvoboditve.
(Slovenian above | English below)
Zgodba se prične, kako se družina pripravlja na konec sveta in nas povede v življenje Tare, najmlajše od sedmih otrok mormonske družine. Družina je bila tako izolirana od večinske družbe, da ni bilo nikogar, ki bi otrokom zagotovil izobraževanje, in nihče, ki bi posredoval, ko je starejši brat postal zelo nasilen.
V času poletja je Tara pomagala mami pri zeliščih, pozimi pa zbirala železo z očetom na smetišču, pa vendar jo je pot pripeljala do tega, da se je sama naučila matematiko, slovnico in znanost ter uspešno opravila sprejemne izpite in se pri sedemnajstih vpisala na Brigham Young University. To je bilo zanjo prvič, da je vstopila v učilnico. Glede nato, da je živela v popolni izolaciji, se je prvič srečevala z zgodovinskimi dogodki kot npr. holokavst. Vrednote in zgodbe, ki jih je njen oče vcepil celoti družini, so pričele prihajati v konflikt z informacijami, ki jih je pričela prijemati skozi izobraževanje. Njena želja po izobraževanju jo vodila naprej na Harvard in Cambridge in ima danes dva doktorata.
Kako je deklici ”sredi ničesar” uspelo pridobiti vrhunsko šolanje na Harvardu in Cambridgeu in dva doktorata je seveda fascinantno, a veliko bolj se me je dotaknila njena zgodba, povezana z družino. Oče, ki ima shizofrenijo in bipolarno motnjo, s svojo karizmo in dominanco upravlja z ostalimi družinskimi člani, da mu sledijo v norosti; mama, ki uklanja svojo pot moževi volji in najstarejši brat, ki ima izjemno agresijo do žensk, ter ostali člani, ki se pretvarjajo, da tega ne vidijo, kaže na visoko stopnjo toksičnosti te družine. In če rasteš v takšnem okolju, takšni vzorci postanejo del ”normalnega”, zato me je ta knjiga tako fascinirala, saj na lep način pokaže, kako kljub izobraževanju, ozaveščanju in prepoznavanju, je močno ukoreninjena zvestoba družini, ne glede kako disfunkcionalna ta v osnovi je.
Tara Westover se na koncu vendarle osvobodi in morebiti ti njena zgodba pripomore k lastni svobodi. Knjigo po ugodni ceni in z brezplačno poštnino dobiš pri: BookDepository_Tara Westover Educated.
»I had come to believe that the ability to evaluate many ideas, many histories, many points of view, was at the heart of what it means to self-create. If I yielded now, I would lose custody of my own mind. What my father wanted to cast from me wasn’t a demon: it was me.«
(English)
The international bestseller, A memoir, Educated by Tara Westover, takes on the journey of education and freedom. Tara was the youngest of seven children, born to survivalists, Mormon family in the mountains of Idaho. Her story begins how she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills” bag. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent.
In the summer Tara stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife, and healer, and in the winter she salvaged metal in her father’s junkyard. And jet somehow path led her taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. She was seventeen when the first time she set foot in a classroom. There, she learned and heard for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her, to Harvard and to Cambridge University and now she has two ph.d.
How did a girl from “the middle of nothing” manage to gain an education in Harvard and Cambridge and two ph.d. is fascinating, but I was touched much more by her story related to the family. The father, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with his charisma and dominance manipulates with other family members to follow him in madness; a mother bowing her path to husband’s will and the oldest brother with extreme aggression against women, and other members who pretend not to see what is happening, shows a high degree of toxicity of this family. And if you grow up in such an environment, such patterns become part of the “normal”, which is why this book has fascinated me because it shows in a beautiful way how, despite education, awareness, and recognition, loyalty to the family is strongly rooted, no matter how dysfunctional it’s the base is.
In the end, Tara Westover gets liberation, and maybe her story could help your path to freedom. Books are available with free shipping: BookDepository_Tara Westover Educated.
»You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them. You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.«
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Almira Ćatović 