I just finished the John Adams bio. First I'd like to say what a great writer David McCullough is. Amazing how he transports you there. I felt like it was perfectly normal to be living in the 18th century, for small amounts of time.
Back to the topic, ol' Johnny boy. I was surprised by my emotion at the end of the book. I was dearly sad to have lost him. Completely overlooked as he was in my education, he was so absolutely critical to the formation and continuance of this country. I'm appalled at my lack of knowledge of how important he was. I highly recommend the book, as it came highly recommended to me from two sources. Granted, it did take some time to read, as it is a hefty tome, but absolutely well worth the effort and I'm glad I spent evenings learning about him and his life (and his fantasticly intelligent wife, Abigail!) instead of the boob tube, watching reruns of That's My Momma!
Happily, it also lead me to many other fun facts and bits of history and literature that has furthered my historical knowledge and desire to learn more. One book it lead me back to was Goethe and his novel The Sorrows (or Sufferings) of Young Werther, which I read in college in a German Lit course that I'm very glad I took. I'm re-reading it now and am picking up so much more than I did years ago. Mr. Adams amount of reading was astonishing, and usually in the original languages they were written in...Greek, Latin, etc. His child, and 6th POTUS, John Quincy Adams, was also an amazingly intelligent and important American, which this book has lead me to look more into him. Strangely, I'm very intrigued by the French Revolution and Napolean's rise to power as a result of reading of the time period and have started researching the best books to read about that tumult. Needless to say, I'm in the middle of a learning renaissance myself and I wish I had the time I blew in college to pursue it.
Ah, such is life. (how's that for a Jack (Croupy) Handy, Matt?)
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7 comments:
what can i say? i have "quirk."
the glasses are awesome, that's the whole deal. i have perfect eyesight- i stole my brother's frames for the hell of it- aiming for that mac user, stereotypical art student vibe.
eventually i'll feel overwhelmingly claustrophobic from the entire image and freak out and go into another direction.
but hell, why not?
Hey, Don't slam "That's my mamma!" It is a top quality show.
Nick, you should be a book critic...write for a newspaper, or magazine.
McCullough wrote the Ben Franklin book I have as well. He is awesome. Good stuff. Love history.
Yes, the B. Franklin book was great, which you loaned me about a year ago, Michael.
Dan, I sure hope you're right. I'd LOVE to critique books, but I'd probably like them all and tell everyone to read every book. Me likey books.
Joy! nice to hear from you. Yes, really, why not?!
shore. link away. what do i care?
nothing wrong with a little free advertising.
Yes, croup, I do appreciate the writing... like Dan says, you really should write more. I enjoy reading.
And a "hefty tome" is a great expression.
And nothing like goethe for a little light reading!
Eh, this particular novel isn't so bad...just have to get used to the phrasing of that era, then it goes quickly, not to mention it's a very short book.
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