John Adams

[Dawes]

Did any of you guys get a chance to watch the first two parts of this HBO miniseries? I just had the privilege of watching the premiere, and I can easily say that I was blown away with just how engaging and riveting it was. I look forward to the third installment.

Paul Giamatti (who a lot of people may remember as Pig Vomit from Howard Stern's Private Parts) plays an absolutely astonishing John Adams, bringing forth not only his great strengths and inexorable integrity, but his weaknesses and humanity as well. I never saw John Adams as such an important part of the United States' development, but he seems to have been a heavy influence on the very course of America's independence. Laura Linney is remarkable as Adams' wife Abigail, who herself plays an irreversible -- if seemingly invisible -- role in the birth of America.

Having watched the first two episodes of this miniseries, I'm really interested to go out and buy the book off of which it was based. I know for the next few weeks, my Sunday nights are taken!

So, what do you guys think? Did anybody watch it, and if so, what say you?

 

[Izzy]

I haven't watched it but I'm glad somebody is recording Adams' place in history.
John Adams was an intellectual stallwart of the revolution and one of the American heroes we've left by on the wayside.

If you read the Jefferson and Adams letters, you see Adams resigned to the fact that he will be forgotten in history. You see a man who few individuals in the nation have ever been as smart or influential.

I encourage everybody to also pick up a copy of McCullough's biography on John Adams, which is just SMASHING!

 

[Dawes]

David McCullough's biography is what the series is based off of, so I hope that when you get a chance to watch it, Izzy, that you enjoy it!