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A review by koala982
Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy by Jamie Raskin
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
- This book is quite sad--Raskin did a great job creating a picture of Tommy, which made reading about him + his struggle with depression harder. (though obviously I'd feel for anyone going through that, no matter their personality or character.) This book was also personally hard for me to read as I've struggled a fair bit with depression too. I'm not sure I'd recommend the book to many people--It was sort of triggering.
- I'm often disenchanted with politics and politicians, but reading about Jamie Raskin's past work, views, and goals for the country was somewhat inspiring.
- From the introduction, I expected the discussion of Tommy and the Jan 6 insurrection to be more interwoven, but found the book more heavy on the politics of it all. Though, obviously Raskin was thinking of his son throughout the events covered in the book, as Tommy's death and Jan 6 happened relatively close in time. In a sense, though, the deep focus on and attention to the constitution and law and morality and politics was all imbued with Tommy's spirit (Raskin said as much--Tommy was always on his heart), as the book covers arguments he (likely) would have made and espouses ideals he (likely) would have stood for.
- I appreciate the detailed, careful, and clear explanations given of laws, the constitution, and why Trump's crimes were indeed crimes. I honestly learned a lot!
- One thing I didn't like about the book was all of the names + name-dropping. Raskin's family is big and I'm sure the politicians mentioned in the book hold value to people who closely follow politics, but the only names that really stuck were those of people who were already famous (e.g., Pelosi or AOC). It's funny to say because this book is already extremely detailed, but it needed to be longer if it really wanted to bring all of the cousins, extended family, and different politicians to life.
- I also felt like the book was largely black and white/one-note in it's portrayal of people save Tommy (and maybe Trump). E.g., Nancy Pelosi was only smart, intuitive, and very on top of things, which I'm sure is true but which is also annoying to read over and over again (and she comes up often).
- I'm often disenchanted with politics and politicians, but reading about Jamie Raskin's past work, views, and goals for the country was somewhat inspiring.
- From the introduction, I expected the discussion of Tommy and the Jan 6 insurrection to be more interwoven, but found the book more heavy on the politics of it all. Though, obviously Raskin was thinking of his son throughout the events covered in the book, as Tommy's death and Jan 6 happened relatively close in time. In a sense, though, the deep focus on and attention to the constitution and law and morality and politics was all imbued with Tommy's spirit (Raskin said as much--Tommy was always on his heart), as the book covers arguments he (likely) would have made and espouses ideals he (likely) would have stood for.
- I appreciate the detailed, careful, and clear explanations given of laws, the constitution, and why Trump's crimes were indeed crimes. I honestly learned a lot!
- One thing I didn't like about the book was all of the names + name-dropping. Raskin's family is big and I'm sure the politicians mentioned in the book hold value to people who closely follow politics, but the only names that really stuck were those of people who were already famous (e.g., Pelosi or AOC). It's funny to say because this book is already extremely detailed, but it needed to be longer if it really wanted to bring all of the cousins, extended family, and different politicians to life.
- I also felt like the book was largely black and white/one-note in it's portrayal of people save Tommy (and maybe Trump). E.g., Nancy Pelosi was only smart, intuitive, and very on top of things, which I'm sure is true but which is also annoying to read over and over again (and she comes up often).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Suicide