The Mighty and the Almighty - Madeleine Albright
October 15th, 2006 @ 7:16 pmLast night I finished The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs by Madeleine Albright with Bob Woodward. Albright is, of course, the former Secretary of State and was my college’s commencement speaker the year after I graduated - Bill Cosby was the year before I graduated. (Similarly, in high school, Tom Hanks was the graduation speaker the year before mine. I have no luck with that.) But I’m not bitter.
Anyway, The Might and the Almighty is a very interesting exploration of the way faith and religion influence political motives and choices in various countries and contexts. Albright has the unique perspective of being able to tell stories about how she approached certain world leaders and international issues with a respect for the influence of faith. Also, Albright has the luxury of dropping brilliant quotes from Bill Clinton (who also wrote the introduction) all over the place. It’s a good read and ultimately, Albright’s optimistic that if we all appreciate each other’s faith , but even she acknowledges there are a lot of “ifs” that stand in the way of that kind of resolution.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
[…] Last night I finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I wanted something short after the interminable (though quite interesting) The Mighty and the Almighty. I didn’t quite expect the The Curious Incident to only take four days on the train, but I devoured this book finishing it last night, almost similar to when I read Pride and Prejudice pretty much in one night because I just had to find out how it all ends. I love this book. […]