thegreenmachine90's review
3.0
Well this was certainly all over the place. I'm still pretty confused exactly what this was supposed to be about since she jumped around so much and covered so many topics. Also-does anyone in this family know how to use footnotes? At least this included a bibliography I guess.
cheribbit's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Writing this review as an Asian immigrant in Canada who was previo sly not knowledgable about the US: this was a good introduction to American history and politics and why the country is the way it is today in terms of social issues. The chapter on Trump administration's atrocities lost me quite a bit. The reference is a great list for further readings and many of them are already on my non-fiction tbr for this year.
Mary L. Trump writes with compassion and elegance that I wish I had whenever I have trouble articulating things. I do also wonder how effective this will be for someone who doesn't already agree with certain key parts e.g. racism still exists.
Mary L. Trump writes with compassion and elegance that I wish I had whenever I have trouble articulating things. I do also wonder how effective this will be for someone who doesn't already agree with certain key parts e.g. racism still exists.
larry1138's review
3.0
Mary Trump certainly is a talented writer and perhaps her status as a member of a rather notorious family would be a good way to encourage those curious enough about her to listen to what she says. However, for this particular book, it almost feels like I was taught a history lesson about the horrible treatment of African Americans and told to acknowledge this history, but not from an expert in African American history, and not even from an actual African American who has lived through any such traumatic experiences (though such violence and oppression affects everyone in the nation).
As with her other volume on the trauma of the Trump family, I was expecting more of a scientific psychological analysis of what racism, violence, and terrorism can do and has done to the national psyche. In particular I wanted to know her solution to healing the nation's trauma, as the subtitle suggests. I was somewhat incorrect in my assumption of her book for the second time in a row. Instead what I received was an interesting if typically horrifying history of the oppression African Americans suffered at the hands of white supremacists in the United States. The solution: learn the history, acknowledge your part in it, and act.
Mary Trump has demonstrated she is a talented researcher, as much of the history she uncovers is deeply reviewed. The reader could almost treat this book as a history book, which of course is a very important part of the healing process. Many of those who are comfortable with their lot in life in the United States are completely unaware of the true horrors that white nationalist terrorism had inflicted upon the black populations of the country before the Civil Rights Era. Very few in America knew about the absolute destruction of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma before an episode of HBO's Watchman series depicted it in television form in 2019. Juneteenth, the celebration of the day that slavery came to an end, didn't become a national holiday until 2021. So it is important that such momentous atrocities and events can finally take their spot in the wider culture.
But this is only a first step. Mary Trump subscribes very little call to action as far as I remember. Learning history, acknowledging bias, and taking small steps is improvement for sure, but this book is no guide to actually healing the nation. Perhaps that is because there is no healing such a polarized body politic. Perhaps it is because Mary Trump is only a psychologist, and not a sociologist/historian/politician with all the answers. This is partly why I would have liked the book to focus on the psychological damage that such oppression delivers not only to the oppressed but to the oppressors and onlookers. I am curious as to whether there is a cure for it, a way to break such toxic cycles from generation to generation. We're already seeing it in Millennials and Gen Z who, as the two most diverse generations in American history, are breaking down racial barriers in nearly all walks of life. But it would have been interesting to have a psychological analysis of why and how this phenomenon is occurring. Instead, I got a history lesson. A good one and an important one for sure, but nothing practical to really follow up on it.
A recommend for me because it is a good history lesson, but I can't help but feel you can get your black history education from other authors, particularly POC, as well as actual historians who specialize in African American history.
As with her other volume on the trauma of the Trump family, I was expecting more of a scientific psychological analysis of what racism, violence, and terrorism can do and has done to the national psyche. In particular I wanted to know her solution to healing the nation's trauma, as the subtitle suggests. I was somewhat incorrect in my assumption of her book for the second time in a row. Instead what I received was an interesting if typically horrifying history of the oppression African Americans suffered at the hands of white supremacists in the United States. The solution: learn the history, acknowledge your part in it, and act.
Mary Trump has demonstrated she is a talented researcher, as much of the history she uncovers is deeply reviewed. The reader could almost treat this book as a history book, which of course is a very important part of the healing process. Many of those who are comfortable with their lot in life in the United States are completely unaware of the true horrors that white nationalist terrorism had inflicted upon the black populations of the country before the Civil Rights Era. Very few in America knew about the absolute destruction of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma before an episode of HBO's Watchman series depicted it in television form in 2019. Juneteenth, the celebration of the day that slavery came to an end, didn't become a national holiday until 2021. So it is important that such momentous atrocities and events can finally take their spot in the wider culture.
But this is only a first step. Mary Trump subscribes very little call to action as far as I remember. Learning history, acknowledging bias, and taking small steps is improvement for sure, but this book is no guide to actually healing the nation. Perhaps that is because there is no healing such a polarized body politic. Perhaps it is because Mary Trump is only a psychologist, and not a sociologist/historian/politician with all the answers. This is partly why I would have liked the book to focus on the psychological damage that such oppression delivers not only to the oppressed but to the oppressors and onlookers. I am curious as to whether there is a cure for it, a way to break such toxic cycles from generation to generation. We're already seeing it in Millennials and Gen Z who, as the two most diverse generations in American history, are breaking down racial barriers in nearly all walks of life. But it would have been interesting to have a psychological analysis of why and how this phenomenon is occurring. Instead, I got a history lesson. A good one and an important one for sure, but nothing practical to really follow up on it.
A recommend for me because it is a good history lesson, but I can't help but feel you can get your black history education from other authors, particularly POC, as well as actual historians who specialize in African American history.
paulgtr234's review
4.0
This was a hard book to read. It tells the truth in a brutally honest way that can be hard absorb even for those who are open to accepting the truth of white privilege. As a liberal white male I am painfully aware of the damage done to all by the lie of white supremacy. Even so, it can be daunting to read the truth of it laid bare on the page.
As much as some of us want to celebrate the advances that have been made towards a more equitable society, it is clear that there is still much to do to bring justice for everyone in our country. We live in a dangerous time. There have always been people who believe in the superiority of one particular class of light skinned, anglo-saxon, protestants - but recent events and leadership have emboldened those people. Unless the rest of us stand up and resist and most importantly, do the work to heal each other and ourselves, the reckoning that Mary L. Trump speaks of will be a painful period in our history.
I grew up reading about the rise of Nazi culture in Germany thinking that could never happen here. Four horrible, scary years of TFG have taught me that in fact it CAN happen here. In fact, unless a whole lot of people step up and refuse to allow it - it WILL happen here. That is as scary a thought as anything I have encountered in my entire life.
As much as some of us want to celebrate the advances that have been made towards a more equitable society, it is clear that there is still much to do to bring justice for everyone in our country. We live in a dangerous time. There have always been people who believe in the superiority of one particular class of light skinned, anglo-saxon, protestants - but recent events and leadership have emboldened those people. Unless the rest of us stand up and resist and most importantly, do the work to heal each other and ourselves, the reckoning that Mary L. Trump speaks of will be a painful period in our history.
I grew up reading about the rise of Nazi culture in Germany thinking that could never happen here. Four horrible, scary years of TFG have taught me that in fact it CAN happen here. In fact, unless a whole lot of people step up and refuse to allow it - it WILL happen here. That is as scary a thought as anything I have encountered in my entire life.
nstone01's review
4.0
"To avoid the topic is to allow the injustices to continue"
At it's core, this book is about the multitude of ways in which America has continually, and unashamedly created an ever-growing psychiatric wound that desperately needs to heal. Displaying how very large communities essential for this country's growth (esp. Indigenous, Black and Latin Americans) have been continually abused, MLT speaks on a well researched and complex history to display the trauma and deep hurt of racism, deeply embedded into America's core. She makes no excuses, and asserts that the time for healing is now.
At it's core, this book is about the multitude of ways in which America has continually, and unashamedly created an ever-growing psychiatric wound that desperately needs to heal. Displaying how very large communities essential for this country's growth (esp. Indigenous, Black and Latin Americans) have been continually abused, MLT speaks on a well researched and complex history to display the trauma and deep hurt of racism, deeply embedded into America's core. She makes no excuses, and asserts that the time for healing is now.
apersonfromflorida's review
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs, War, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts