My brain was in so many places when I finished a week ago that I had to take a break. Whew!
And this is a good thing, at least for me. If you don't already know, this is another memoir of resilience, defying the odds, and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. A la Glass Castles, Hillbilly Elegy, even the novel The Great Alone. I am sure there are others. Trapped by her parents (really, her dad's) paranoia about the government, Tara and her 6 siblings do not attend school regularly (Tara not at all - she's the youngest), are forced to work in the family junkyard business, always face serious injury, only believe in home remedies (doctors collude with the government!) and never are given the chance to make up their own minds about things in the world because they are never taught, they are only TOLD. But then one brother self studies himself into college, and convinces Tara she can - and should - do the same. Now they both have PhDs (as does another brother). Impressive? Impossible? Both??
My first impression of this book was made in the very first paragraph - so descriptive!! What imagery!! "...a gentle hill slopes upward and stitches itself to the mountain base." WHAT? This woman never went to high school? She only graduated from BYU, Cambridge and Harvard. And was a Gates Scholar.
Oh. Education has nothing to do with intelligence. Only with knowledge.
This is a great choice for a book club. I have two book clubs that are reading it this month. In the first group of various ages and genders we had some people who didn't really believe this was a fully true story. It is hard to believe. So many injuries in the junkyard and in other accidents that one friend felt like it was "violence voyeurism." (stolen from Debbie!!) And like Hillbilly Elegy, there is a lack of emotion here that I find very interesting in memoirs. Like the author has to distance herself from the truth in order to tell it straight, without the blurring of emotion. Abuse abounds in many forms. But that is MY definition of abuse. Those perpetrating the abuse don't see it as abuse at all. There is a lot of denial. Tara herself in a recent interview still seems to defend her now estranged father from his decisions and actions, saying he didn't mean for the kids to get injured in the junkyard, it just is what it is. (God's will?) I also agreed with my friend Debbie again when she said she wanted more of the things Tara had to learn when she "entered society." Much is made of the fact that she had never heard the word Holocaust before college and had to ask what that meant. She did have access to a computer and later a tv in her house, but that level of not knowing is mind blowing to those of us that are mainstreamed. But should it be?? Remember, we are all only knowledgeable about the things we have been told - by our parents, by our teachers, the media, our church, the history books. How much do we all take at face value? Tara did her own research, and learned, and questioned, and grew. There is no shame in not knowing, only in not trying to learn.
She is clear at the beginning that this is not a story of their religion (they are Mormon) but rather belief. Interesting clarification. But it is a story of paranoia, family, responsibility to self, intended and unintended abuse and questioning authority. Her path is not "normal" by any definition. But her story is well worth reading. Tara is an excellent writer and I will be curious to see if she writes another book and what sort it will be. Her choice of study was focused on the history of historians - where does knowledge come from and who are these people who have traditionally told us what to believe. Interesting indeed.
I can't really say more in a review without totally spoiling the book - I have probably already revealed too much, but I promise there is SO MUCH MORE (hello Shawn) - but I have an entire other review written for my other book club which meets tonight - more like discussion points really. So much to talk about!! Whether or not YOU believe, is left to you. But read, you should. Then, be like Tara. Decide for yourself.
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