Book Review and Recommendation
Only once before (*) have I gone through a book at such a fast pace, eager to read what’s next, while awed by the craft of writing – a style so simple, yet so gripping, it could not have been learned; it must’ve been a gift from the “gods”.
The subject of the book is what happens to a person who is blessed with rationality and cursed with having been born in a family of religious fundamentalists.
Fundamentalism is a devil’s brew of stupidity mixed in with various mental disorders – paranoia, schizophrenia, narcissism, and more. And the fundamentalism of Tara Westover’s family was extreme and vicious. They kept her from going to school, taught her to never wear a seat belt, constantly put her life in danger in the belief that the Lord would save her, and never took her to a doctor, even when she was badly mangled.
Although present-day Americans, Tara’s family believed in the inferiority of women as a godly commandment, and visited upon her unspeakable hurt and humiliation with perfectly “good intentions”. I won’t go into the details in order not to spoil it for the reader, but the events themselves are not what the book is about. It is the meaning of it all.
Tara survived, and managed to get a doctorate from a most prestigious university (despite never having gone to elementary or secondary school.) But that is not the point of the book. It is the monumental struggle it takes to break out of the vicious grip of a fundamentalist family. The will to resist is not enough – only someone with extraordinary gifts, like Tara, could succeed. Even then, the outcome is by no means certain (**)
The book is ‘Educated’. The author is Tara Westover. (***)
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*) That other time it was ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
**) I have not mentioned the name of the author’s religion because it doesn’t matter. The phenomenon is universal.
***) Thanks to my friend Ali Habbak for suggesting this book to me.
يمكنك دعم الموقع من هنا
مؤسسة ندى لحماية الفتيات
احنا فيه اشكاليه كبري في منطقتنا فيما يتعلق بالاسلام
عبسي التاريخ اخد عنه و اسند اليه
و المسيحيه تشبه رحله في هذا
احيانا اضيف اليها المخيف و المرعب
و احيانا اخري احتفظت ب انسانيتها
الاسلام لم يشد عن تلك القاعده
و لكن هناك حقيقة وجود محمد و دولته تاريخيا
و في تفاصيل هذا يقه كل ما يميز مجتمعا انسانيا في وسط الجزيره العربيه من ١٤ قرن
هذه التفاصيل اصبحت جزءا من الدين
و جزءا من الاصوليه
و معناها المباشر هو العوده الي الاصول
تحليل هذا يستعصي علي المنطق
لانه في الواقع متماسك في داخله
انت تومن بالله و رسوله
اليس كذلك
نعم
و هذا هو ما فعله النبي
فماذا تقول
قد تكون هناك مخارج من مثل
ما ذكر عن النبي لم يقع
و انتقاله عبر الزمن غيره
ايضا النبي كان عمليا
و كان يواجه مشاكل البشر كما في حاله مشاكله مع زوجاته
و لكن النتيجه لا تتوقف عند ما يفرضه المنطق مع هذا
النتيجه متوقفه علي الرؤيه المجتمعيه الجمعيه في وقت و زمان ب عينه
المجتمعات المأزومه تميل الي النكوص
و تلك المعنيه ب حياتها تميل الي وضع امورها في اطر اقرب الي السلامه
شكرا جزيلا لل بوست
ادركت ان الروايه و المذكرات و الbest sellers ( رغم اشكاليه الاخيره ) مازال لها محبيها من وزن استاذنا الكبير
Looks like a treat to read. Thank you for your review and recommendation.
Thank for review and recommendations 🙏
I would truly look forward to reading it ..!
جميل جدا شاكرا ومقدرا
Thank you sir.
It sounds like this indeed is a very interesting book. Thank you for the review. I’m sure to get it soon.
Love this book, one of the rare that I remember the events and details. I read it in late 2019 and I was very sick in bed. I borrowed the book from the Cupertino library, a kindle version and I devoured the book in 3 days. I was so sick and couldn’t sleep anyway.
The cruelty of her entire family towards her was unbelievable. And the more she endured and suffered the more determined she became. It’s a true story but I couldn’t believe that anyone could ever withstand all what she went through.
Such an unforgettable story. The fundamentalism in its worst and extreme picture.
A must-read. Thank you Farid for sharing 🙏🙏🙏
شاكرا ومقدرا تحياتي