I didn't know I would drive to Syracuse, captivated, and drive back to Stratford, still not finished. I looked for reasons to drive some more and to listen more. I even took Glamis on extra walks. Each chapter had me thinking about her life, this life, my life, and the lives we share together.
Chitunga read it, as well, and was the one who convinced me that this would be the book for the 10 days off. Having finished it, I'm now anxious to talk to him and discuss its content, especially what being educated meant to her, and how an education can be counterpart to everything one is taught as a child.
The enlightened path. The mind of books. The choice of curiosity and finding truth. Such is the way of a scholarly mind, each looking for meaning in the worlds we know as our own.
I rarely, if ever, find myself in a doctor's office. I can't imagine, however, having parents who chose a world without medicine or Western thought - the conviction that governments, hospitals and schools are in Lucifer's hands. I've never been a religious fellow, but spiritually I've been guided from the time I was a young man. My religion has been in libraries, with questions, with a stubborn persistence to find answers for myself.
I've never been part of book clubs, either, except for those of classrooms, those where I was a student and when I was a teacher. With Educated by Tara Westover, however, I feel like I want to attend a lecture, to be with others in difficult conversations, amongst those who have also been lured in and part of the letters she put to page.
Wow. Just wow. Definitely the best book I read in 2019 (and likely to be the one for 2020). I now understand why Kelly Chandler-Olcott looked at me in amazement over cranberry mojitos when Chitunga said I was just listening to the book now.
Better late, than sorry. I'm so glad it found itself on my calendar.
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