The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

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The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

by Wm. Paul Young, Wayne Jacobsen, Brad Cummings

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 200,108 ratings · 21,374 reviews

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against hi...more

Paperback, 248 pages

Published July 1st 2007 by Windblown Media

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Sep 14, 2008 Amanda J rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Amanda J by: Sharon & Ed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was recommended this book by several people who found it both moving and fresh. So Mr. Young certainly has an audience for this glib encounter between Mack, the “everyman,” and God. I, however, must not be the intended audience. Despite the fact millions of copies have been sold and the book has climbed its way to the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List, I found The Shack to be preachy and fake to the point of insincerity.
The main characters are so flat and one-dimensional that one ca...more I was recommended this book by several people who found it both moving and fresh. So Mr. Young certainly has an audience for this glib encounter between Mack, the “everyman,” and God. I, however, must not be the intended audience. Despite the fact millions of copies have been sold and the book has climbed its way to the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List, I found The Shack to be preachy and fake to the point of insincerity.
The main characters are so flat and one-dimensional that one can barely believe they are in need of redemption. By all accounts Nan is the perfect wife. So much so, she harbors no ill-will or judgments against her husband, even when their young daughter is kidnapped while in Mack’s care. The rational among us realize that it was not Mack’s fault young Missy was snatched by a serial killer, but one can hardly suspend their disbelief that in the face of such tragedy, the family confronts little of the typical doubt and blame so many have felt under similar circumstances. Granted occasionally guilt creeps to the surface, as Missy’s sister Kate becomes sullen and silent, blaming herself for her sister’s fate, but all in all the family appears to do quite well.
I supposed this shouldn’t surprise the reader, however. Mack has already overcome many trials, including horrible abuse at the hands of his father. In spite of leaving home at a tender age, Mack becomes educated, successful and a wonderful husband and father. Sound too good to be true? Don’t worry; the author is Mack’s long time friend and confidant, chosen by Mack to write this detailed account of his spiritual transformation. Or is he?
In the forward, Mr. Young journals about his friendship with Mack, his struggle to truly believe Mack’s story and ultimately his decision to help Mack turn his experience into a book. But wait, this book is fiction, and despite the author William Young inserting himself into the story as the gun-wielding, jeep-owning “Willie,” this is not a memoir, it’s a novel. A literary device or dishonest intent, I’ll let you decide, but at very least it’s horribly misleading, lending credibility where it is not due.
But that’s not the point is it? This book is “bringing a fresh perspective to the theological scene.” But I didn’t find it fresh or even slightly startling. Could it be that this #1 bestseller is actually dull and trite? Absolutely. Mr. Young attempts to grab the reader by making God the Father appear to Mack as a woman. Are you completely blown away? Unable to wrap your mind around the religious consequences? No? I didn’t think so, because at the very least, you’ve taken 7th grade Ancient Civilizations and you know that yes, there have been people, in fact, entire cultures that have pictured god as a woman. More recently, the cult classic film, Dogma, after a series of affronts on Christian assumptions (disgruntled angels wreaking havoc, descendants of Jesus walking among us), reveals that God is a girl!
Oh, but Mr. Young goes a step further; his God is not just a woman, but a black woman. Does that make any difference? It shouldn’t. Young is assuming that our white Protestant values will be affronted by this depiction, making his novel all that more shocking and controversial. I for one am offended; certainly God can be represented as an african-american woman, but I do not find these ideas mind-blowing. The fact that Mr. Young does shows how little he really understands. His caricature of God- for that’s what it is- seems to only use proper grammar about 90% of the time (Is this what you think black people sound like, Mr. Young?) and his depictions of Jesus and the Holy Spirit fall flat. They are neither engaging nor inspiring.
Only the scenes with the personification of God’s wisdom seem to have what this book is lacking – passion. Mack finally reveals what the rest of us have been feeling all along, anger – anger that a small child like Missy could be brutally murdered by an evil man, who gets away.
And that brings me to “The Missy Project.” At the end of the book, right after the acknowledgements, the author tells us about this special project, and I think to myself, “Finally, after 250 pages, here’s something I can believe in. The author is going to donate all of his money from this horrible book to helping find missing children.” But I was disappointed – yet again. “The Missy Project” is just some strange scheme to sell more books. Yes, that’s right, Mr. Young lists ways you can help him get more copies of his book into circulation. Are you kidding me?
And so I end this review with a challenge. If you really want to be spiritually transformed, don’t spend your money buying this book. Instead, go out and help someone in need or donate to a worthy cause.
I guarantee it will be infinitely more rewarding.
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Jan 25, 2013 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Note: After several friends challenged me to read the book again (I assume they wanted me to upgrade The Shack to five stars), I indeed read it a second time. As a result, I downgraded it another star. There are things I noticed the second time I didn't the first.

Added to my review below are several more specific drawbacks of the book. Unfortunately, every one of these would have been pointed out by first or second year writing students, which simply reiterates my main point below: Shame on you...more

79 likes · like · see review

Sep 01, 2008 Kim♥ rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: I don't recommend this book to anyone.

Shelves: emergent

Having had such high hopes for this book, I was sadly disappointed about its content, being for the most part simply unbiblical. Yes, there were poignant scenes and emotional moments that moved me to tears- but that does not tip the scales against all of the errors slipped in and truths that were twisted. Being protective especially of new Christians, I strongly caution anyone about reading it. This book should be read with much discernment.

Please read the Bible and learn about the Way, the Trut...more

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Dec 31, 2009 Renee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Pure drivel. This book read like a Betty Crocker recipe gone bad: take one all-American Jesus lovin’/fearing family, add one unexplainable tragedy, mix with equal parts anger , guilt and sadness , bake for three weeks and get a bitter man who has turned his back on God. Alias, no need to give up, because God writes our hero a personalized note, and tells him to meet him in “the shack” (the place of his daughter’s murder), funny thing is, god is a black woman cooking pancakes in the kitchen who s...more

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Jun 02, 2008 Christie rated it 3 of 5 stars

First off this will be lengthy so don’t feel you have to read it
.
This is a hard book to review because you pretty much have to separate it into two parts. The novel, and the theological.

This man is not a writer. As far as the novel aspect of this book, I don't personally believe it is well written. Both the descriptions and dialogue don't ring true to me. But if delve into a little of the back story regarding this author you find that he never intended this book to be published. After experienci...more

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Sep 24, 2008 Jay rated it 2 of 5 stars

I know, I know. Everyone loves this book. No fewer than forty-three people asked me "Have you read The Shack yet?"

Invariably, they responded to my negative response with something along the lines of "You have to! It changed my life! I was full of questions, and life stunk, and then I read the book, and God made sense to me, I understood quantum physics effortlessly, and all of a sudden I could spin flax into gold!"

So, what I'm about to say is going to make a lot of people pretty angry.

The Shack...more

215 likes · like · see review

Jun 17, 2011 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: poop, religion-or-not

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

58 likes · like · see review

Jul 15, 2008 Eric Bjerke rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Eric by: Saw on internet, heard it was controversial

Shelves: christian-fiction, christian-education, fiction, theology, self-improvement

It is hard to not get carried away and be too effusive about this book. When one has spent time with someone or something, it is natural to feel a close connection to that thing and, I think, lose objectivity. Obviously I didn't try too hard to be calm and subdued in my praise because one can see that I rated it 5 stars; however, I think I will start with why I don't think it is a 5-star book.

It wasn't a book that I just couldn't put down. This is usually a prerequisite for me to rate a book so...more

81 likes · like · see review

May 22, 2009 Jen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicks-dig-it, spirituality-religion, schmutzwasser, shivers, sisters-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

31 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2011 booklady rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone suffering loss

Recommended to booklady by: Rosemary

Shelves: 2008, fantasy, fiction, philosophy, psychology, sci-fi, health, favorites, religion, grief

The Shack is a book you will thank yourself for reading. While it can be a bit didactic at times, it is not overtly so. It’s more a story of journey and relationship—discovering who you are through learning more about who God is to you. I’m no theologian, but I do like to imagine myself as the Theophilus Luke is writing to in the Book of Acts. So I read the book as a God-Lover and I write this review in the same vein.

It begins with an unspeakably horrible tragedy happening to a loving father. (...more The Shack is a book you will thank yourself for reading. While it can be a bit didactic at times, it is not overtly so. It’s more a story of journey and relationship—discovering who you are through learning more about who God is to you. I’m no theologian, but I do like to imagine myself as the Theophilus Luke is writing to in the Book of Acts. So I read the book as a God-Lover and I write this review in the same vein.

It begins with an unspeakably horrible tragedy happening to a loving father. (By way of explanation, I cannot write this review without at least giving that much away.) It’s the sort of nightmare every devoted parent dreads and secretly fears. In the aftermath of the disaster, the main character, Mack, attempts to put his life back together but finds he cannot. The devastation is too great; the chasm created by his loss is so unfathomable, his faith in a loving God is shattered.

Mack receives a strange and seemingly preposterous invitation to meet God at the very site – the shack – the scene where the unspeakable crime against his loved one occurred. The rest of the story is about Mack’s meeting with God which is unlike any other fictional description I have ever read of a Divine encounter. If you have ever longed to see God you will certainly appreciate this book. If you have experienced – or are going through – your own 'Agony in the Garden' time in your life this book may be a very cathartic aid. It's my belief that this is The Shack's real purpose. As such, God is presented most beautifully as Relationship-in-Love. God is three distinct persons whose love for each other is One and yet extends to each of us, His creatures. Mack heals as we may also heal to the extent to which we open to God’s love.

As I mentioned early on, I'm no expert in Theology and I have no doubt there are theological errors in The Shack.

God as God, The Almighty, Our Creator, Savior, Redeemer, the Holy Spirit, etc. who has been worshipped, studied, prayed to, fought over and died for – for millennium, was not just suddenly figured out in 2007 by William P. Young and explained in 248 pages of fiction. This book is by no means definitive nor the last word on God. It is however, wonderful. It is a moving and a loving tribute to getting to know Him better. It is a helpful way to look at how God views the tragedies that happen in our lives. He does not inflict them on us. He suffers right along with us ... just as He did 2000 years ago.

For those looking for a more 'catholic' perspective on The Shack, here is an excellent review by Fr. Robert Barron. Thanks Karina for this link!(less)

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Dec 16, 2008 Jill rated it 1 of 5 stars

I did NOT like this book. I kept hearing how good it was and got it from the library with no idea what it was about. The idea of a guy who loses faith in god because his child is abducted and then gets invited back to "the shack" where his daughter was found...this time to spend a weekend with god...is not my idea of appealing literature.

50 likes · like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 C.J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics-literary

This book was recommended to me by a book group I attended to speak about my book A Demon Awaits. I had not read this book prior to writing mine, but I was very surprised to find that the premise of our books (a man struggling to heal his relationship with God) was identical. Before I continue I’d like to share a bit of my bias because one’s perspective will vastly affect the enjoyment of this book. I’m staunchly conservative, religiously, politically and economically. I’m also a writer and I ch...more This book was recommended to me by a book group I attended to speak about my book A Demon Awaits. I had not read this book prior to writing mine, but I was very surprised to find that the premise of our books (a man struggling to heal his relationship with God) was identical. Before I continue I’d like to share a bit of my bias because one’s perspective will vastly affect the enjoyment of this book. I’m staunchly conservative, religiously, politically and economically. I’m also a writer and I choose NEVER to review a book that I don’t find to be very strong. Someone with a more liberal viewpoint will appreciate this book even more than I did.

This book reaches out to a generation of people losing touch with God and encourages them to reach for him. While churches are rocked by scandal and divided over the issue of homosexuality and its place in God’s eyes, church attendance diminishes. This book takes the subject of our relationship with God and urges us to mend our relationship with him. I cannot imagine a more important subject for a book and I applaud the author for writing a book that has reached so many. Not only is this book popular, but it puts the conversation with God center stage and this conversation carries the majority of the book. (Young chooses not to address the issue of homosexuality and the church.)

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone.

There is a tremendous amount of the author’s philosophy delivered in this book that I will react to through the remainder of this review.

Characterization of God
Young creates a character who is angry at God over the death of his daughter. In the end the character takes a difficult journey toward reconciliation. The subject matter will touch millions of people. Young’s characterization of God was a surprising choice. When I wrote A Demon Awaits, I thought a long time about how God should be portrayed in fiction and I struggled with a way to make him appear in a way that not only moved the story, but was also reverent. We both used some of the same devices to bring God to the page, but our focus was vastly different. Young’s characterization offended me as irreverent and disrespectful at times. I felt uncomfortable in the early part of the book and this connected me with Mack who was feeling much the same.

The Church
Young assaults the church as something created by man that God has no interest in. I found this highly irresponsible. I agree that the earthly church is created by and run by man and as such is fallible. Still, my experience with church leaders has been one of utter joy, learning and spiritual growth. To suggest that these fine people could be replaced by blindly reaching out to God without a guide of any sort sounded illogical to me. Young also suggest that we should disregard the Ten Commandments as an unattainable ideal. The Ten Commandments played a more guiding role in my book.

Tragedy and Healing
Much of the book focuses on the tragedy Mack struggles with in his life. This element of the story was superbly done and I know that this element of the book has touched people who have lost loved ones and especially some who are terminally ill. The power of this story will bring peace into many lives because this topic is tackled head-on by a believable character. The author discusses our independence and God’s willingness to intercede in our lives to a great extent. This facet of the story will be a great healer to many and is one of the strongest reasons to recommend this book.

Crime & Responsibility
Young skirts the issue of crime and criminals somewhat. God says that he loves his children all equally no matter what they have done and this is shown in a very strong scene in the text. This one scene was probably the best of the entire work. Counter to this, or maybe because of the focus, Young suggests that responsibility is a man-made construction that has no use in God’s eyes. The idea that we could all live together in peace and harmony sounds lovely, but ignores the fact that we live in a world with lots of “broken” souls. The Puritans were clear about responsibility and made sure that able-bodied people worked or starved. We have strayed very far from the principle of responsibility and I thought it was highly irresponsible of the author to suggest that we don’t need to act responsibly. I personally think that if people strived and were honest about what they were capable of and what they could contribute to our society, then we could take much better care of those who are not able to work to support themselves.

There is much I disagree with in his approach, but I commend the author on a book that is both popular and important.
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Jan 19, 2009 Mary rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one... not even my worst enemy

Recommended to Mary by: it was a Christmas present

*mild spoilers below*

This book has been hailed, among other things, as a gripping page-turner. However, my personal refusal to put it down had less to do with any interest in the story than it did with a desperate desire to get it over with. I hate this book for so many reasons that it's difficult to know where to begin. Let's start with the claim, repeated over and over again in the more glowing reviews, that it's a literary masterwork. There is nothing remotely literary about this book. It rea...more *mild spoilers below*

This book has been hailed, among other things, as a gripping page-turner. However, my personal refusal to put it down had less to do with any interest in the story than it did with a desperate desire to get it over with. I hate this book for so many reasons that it's difficult to know where to begin. Let's start with the claim, repeated over and over again in the more glowing reviews, that it's a literary masterwork. There is nothing remotely literary about this book. It reads like religious fanfiction, the fantasy of an earnest but inept author who props up his "story" (read: the monologue delivered by his trio of God-aspects) with weak responses from a character less developed than most Mary Sue's. Honestly, if our protagonist responded one more time with "Whoa!", "I guess I never thought of it that way," or an inability to even craft a complete sentence, I may have had to throw the book across the room for good.

To add to my irritation, Young -- perhaps recognizing the failure of his book to provide his message with the authority he might have hoped -- applies a few old and not-so-endearing tricks: He uses the space of his author's bio to declare himself the product of "missionary parents" who "suffered great lost as a child and young adult"... I guess solidifying his right to speak to a traumatized audience (something the book fails to do for him.) Further, since he never manages to craft a realistic character, even in his protagonist, he goes to the trouble of penning a false introduction, posing the fictional story as nonfiction, and inserting himself into the text in third person, to suggest that it could very well be true, although obviously it is not. What would otherwise have come across as a failed attempt by a non-writer starts to look like a consciously constructed dirty trick.

And then there's the content of the book itself, the theology that props up what -- especially after the initial few chapters and the arrival of the note itself -- amounts largely to a severe lack of plot. Although, every hundred pages or so, there's an aspect of Young's God that I approve -- say, when God insists that tragedy is not part of the Plan -- the overall illustration of the Divine is severely lacking. I personally love that, on page 98, Young has "God" say, "I am far ore than [the best you can conceive:], above and beyond all that you can think" despite the fact that he has, quite obviously, spent an entire book asserting that he knows the nature of God well enough to ventriloquize on the Divine's behalf. Perhaps I wouldn't mind that little hypocrisy if I felt he'd done a better job, but Young's god is quite noticeably the product of a White/Christian/Western/Male masquerading as a universal offering. There are those "fantastic" moments when God endorses the gender binary. (p. 146: "That's because like most men you find what you think of as fulfillment in your achievements, and Nan, like most women, find [sic:] it in relationships. It's more naturally her language"). There are those "mavelous" scenes when God, in one form or another, insists that the great evil of humanity is the drive for individualism, independence, or autonomy, and insists we must submit. (Doubly bogus on account of its dismissal of collectivist cultures.) And perhaps best of all, there is the assertion -- on p. 182 -- that this is not a Christian understanding, but rather one accessible to people "from every system that exists [...:] Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims" despite the fact that the very line insisting this is delivered by Jesus, who is portrayed as the son of God, in a book so thick with Original Sin theology, you'd expect the text to choke on it.

Oh, wait, come to think of it -- the text DID choke. And so did I, forcing myself to finish it.(less)

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Jan 08, 2009 Elisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

In case you can't read it, the tagline on this is "Where tragedy confronts eternity."

This is the story of Mack, a man whose 6-year-old daughter was abducted and brutally murdered during a family camping trip. The serial killer, a man who leaves a ladybug pin everytime he kills a child, was never captured, and the only clue to Missy's abduction was an undeniable, bloodstained red sundress on the floor of an abandoned shack high up in the middle of nowhere. Now, four years after Missy's murder, h...more In case you can't read it, the tagline on this is "Where tragedy confronts eternity."

This is the story of Mack, a man whose 6-year-old daughter was abducted and brutally murdered during a family camping trip. The serial killer, a man who leaves a ladybug pin everytime he kills a child, was never captured, and the only clue to Missy's abduction was an undeniable, bloodstained red sundress on the floor of an abandoned shack high up in the middle of nowhere. Now, four years after Missy's murder, her father receives a letter in his mailbox -- from God -- inviting him back to the scene of the crime, a return to The Shack where the trail of evidence ended.

Mack, who has been living under what he quietly calls The Great Sadness for the past four years, is enraged. What kind of sick prank is this? The letter is either from Missy's killer, who could be luring Mack away from his remaining four children so he can strike again, or it is really... from God. Fearing to be thought crazed with unresolved grief, Mack packs his Jeep with a gun and his daughter's picture, and heads back up to The Shack: where tragedy confronts eternity.

God is waiting for Mack. But it's not the God of Mack's parents or even the God of his church. This is a God who delights in nothing so much as standing conventions and preconceived notions on their heads and messing with his children's hearts. This is a God who stands in the kitchen stirring cake batter and telling Mack, "The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can preceive, which often isn't much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I'm not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think."

And that weekend, right there at The Shack, God and Mackenzie Phillips wrestle with the problem of pain, of suffering, of free will and judgment and heartache and the very nature of godhood in a way that is entirely authentic and deep.

Now because I would not be a good book reviewer if I failed to address the nuts and bolts of this book, I'll do my job now: William P. Young, this book's author, is a virutal unknown. The book was published by Windblown Media, also an unknown. The language in the book is coarse, not in the sense that it is foul, but in the sense that an inexperienced author is trying to emulate the colloquialsms of African-American dialect and at times utterly forgets that he is supposed to be doing this, falling back easily into Standard American English. Because of this, the book lacks a certain cohesion. There are also misplaced modifiers that an experienced editor would have caught and fixed before sending the manuscript to the printer. One can only hope that future printings of this will see these minor errors accounted for and fixed...

And now here is the hope: when my best friend from high school first gave me a copy of this book and begged me to read it, I groaned inwardly. It was printed on 50# bright white offset (a very cheap paper). It was run cross-grain, making it very difficult to open (a very cheap way to print). And it was published by a virtually unknown publishing house. Because of these strikes, it sat on the floor of my closet for quite sometime. Eventually, feeling I owed it to Laura to read the book, I picked it up and began... and rather than bringing my copy of the book to Borders, I would merely pick up a new copy and begin reading where I'd left off, whenever I happened to be near a bookstore. I got so caught up in the story that it took me some time to notice a change in The Shack. No more was it printed on cheap paper. No more was it difficult to pry open. It was now featured as a 6x9 book (this means it is running correct-grain, which is a much more expensive way to print a book) on 50# Cougar Natural Vellum (a much more expensive paper). Additionally, the tagline of "Where tragedy confronts eternity" was replaced with this: #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Wow. That's quite a change in 2 months.

To sum up my review: This book has the power to make all human artifice utterly fall away... to make the traffic out the window, the people in conversation next to you, the very coffee mug you hold in your hand, all seem infinitely unreal, while leaving you alone in the very presence of God.
Posted by Nom de plume at 9:12 AM
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Mar 22, 2013 D.G. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, reviewed

I usually don't rate books I DNF but after I suffered through almost a 1/3 of this book, I think I have the right.

Despite the pompous subtitle and the fact that I'm a non believer, the description of this book interested me. I expected an emotional story where a man confronts God and demands answers for what happened to his daughter. I knew this book was Christian Fiction so I was sure that at the end the man would reconcile with God but I didn't expect the book to be so maudlin and preachy.

I li...more I usually don't rate books I DNF but after I suffered through almost a 1/3 of this book, I think I have the right.

Despite the pompous subtitle and the fact that I'm a non believer, the description of this book interested me. I expected an emotional story where a man confronts God and demands answers for what happened to his daughter. I knew this book was Christian Fiction so I was sure that at the end the man would reconcile with God but I didn't expect the book to be so maudlin and preachy.

I listened to the audiobook and the first thing that jarred me was that the narrator was too perky for the story. I expected the main character to be depressed, angry, tormented and broken but instead, we get a chirpy guy that's sad occasionally. NOT what I would expect from a man who's daughter was abducted and (possibly) killed (her body was never found so we don't know for sure.)

The first chapters were incredibly boring with a lot of God name dropping. I felt some real emotion when he was reliving the moments after the abduction and I was getting really excited that the 'good' part was coming. Finally! He was meeting God in the shack.

The first thing God did? He transformed the shack! As if by magic, the desolate, run down, dark, cold place transformed in a gorgeous place out of storybook. What.The.Hell. I guess it wouldn't do for the Holy Trinity to stay in a run down place.

Then we meet the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) who look like a poster for the United Nations (Black, Mediterranean, Asian.) Then we hear all sorts of saccharine pronouncements, over the top actions (the Holy Spirit collects tears...give me a break) and when Jesus said he was 'Hebrew' (I guess a lot of the readers would have objected if he had been called Jewish), that's when I had enough. I'm really not interested in how the story would end because given how things are working out, I'm sure it would be something that would allow the father to get some closure (which is big time BS because if there's something parents never get closure, it's the murder of a child.)(less)

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Jan 14, 2013 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Many people loved this book. People at my church recommended it. I just wasn't impressed. It wasn't all bad it just wasn't that great. I found the blatant emotional manipulation a little annoying and the setting odd. The actual "teaching" or discussion sections weren't totally bad and occasionally approached interesting, but that's about the best I can say.

By the way, I said it was interesting, or at least close to it often... Please don't get your theology from this book. I could take time to...more

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Oct 06, 2008 Skylar Burris rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: christianity, general-fiction

This novel seems to be aimed at overturning (primarily fundamentalist) misconceptions about God and emphasizing that God IS Love. And although that is a noble and important goal, I find the novel itself to be overly didactic, with too many long explanations of too many things all placed directly in the mouth of God Himself (which seems to me a bit presumptuous).

Things are very often better explained and understood in story than in definition, and that is why I usually tend not to like didactic...more This novel seems to be aimed at overturning (primarily fundamentalist) misconceptions about God and emphasizing that God IS Love. And although that is a noble and important goal, I find the novel itself to be overly didactic, with too many long explanations of too many things all placed directly in the mouth of God Himself (which seems to me a bit presumptuous).

Things are very often better explained and understood in story than in definition, and that is why I usually tend not to like didactic novels: they ruin a perfectly good story with an explanation. He tries to depict God as love, but ends up drawing instead a sentimental human relationship. He tries to establish some kind of theodicy, but at times, the Trinity almost seems to be playing the role of Job's comforters. He tries to explain the Trinity, addressing in a facile and confident manner a great mystery with which the greatest minds have wrestled for centuries. I am reminded of a quote by Rumi: "Some commentary clarifies, but with love silence is clearer. A pen went scribbling along, but when it tried to write _love_, it broke. If you want to expound on love, take your intellect out and let it lie down in the mud. It's no help."

It's not that I have a problem with theology embedded in story. I loved The Brothers Karamazov and many of the novels of C.S. Lewis, which are clearly aimed at discussing and conveying theological arguments. Here, however, the writing itself is somewhat banal. The dialogue is silly (how many times did Mack say, "Whoa!"? Like, whoa! Totally! I never saw God like that man!). The exchanges between Mack and God seem to consist of staged/leading questions followed by answers. The action is almost nonexistent, and the "story" is only about 15% of the novel, while the didactic dialogue is about 85%. The characters are undeveloped, except for Mack. There were some standout observations and one moving scene (the "judgment"), and the author did an important job of emphasizing that Christ did not come to establish a religion but a relationship. However, on the whole, it just wasn't, in my personal opinion, a very good book. I wanted a STORY with real, raw emotion. I got a LECTURE, with a little bit of story, with maudlin emotion. And what little I got of a story sometimes sounded like something told by a youth pastor trying to relate to the kids on their (presumably simplistic) level and only succeeding in coming across as a little goofy.

So much of what plagues modern popular Christian fiction (didacticism, lack of subtlety, undeveloped characters, telling not showing, over-obvious foreshadowing, drawing conclusions for the reader, even the obtrusive, attempt-to-be-hip pop culture references) plagued this book. I have known many who have loved and recommended this book to me, but I fear I just cannot step up onto the bandwagon with this one.

Though I agree God is love and that Jesus will travel any road to find us, I really disliked his portrayal of the Trinity. There was something condescending in his constant attempts to overcome religious stereotypes: first, the assumption that most Christians have those stereotypes to begin with (and because I don't the "correction" of my "stereotypes" about God irked me), and, secondly, that he replaced those religious stereotypes with ethnic stereotypes: the grammatically incorrect Aunt Jemimahesque African-American woman, the whispy Asian, and the big-nosed Jew. (Yes, really, he goes there. He means to do it lightly as a joke, and perhaps even a joke on stereotypes, but it really does not work at all.) No, I'm not under the impression that God actually has gender or that Jesus was a white, long-haired, blue eyed Anglo-Saxon. But thanks for setting me straight with your multicultural trinity of cardboard cutouts. Ultimately, my problem is that Young's God is not much to be in awe of. And also, I kind of like religious ritual and don't think it's part of the trinity of terror or however he phrased that. Politics, religion (what was the third awful thing?) - these things can be used for ill, yes, but you know what? Order is not an inherently bad thing. Jesus is not systematically opposed to order.

I give it the second star because it clearly has touched so many people, so obviously the flaws that prevented me from really appreciating it are not an impediment to its central message for most readers. And its message that God is love is something that needs to touch people.
(less)

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Jun 15, 2008 Shane rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: certain Christians, with reservation

Recommended to Shane by: My grandpa

This is a very strange book. It seemed even stranger when I thought it was meant to be taken as non-fiction. So, as a warning to anyone who does read this, it is fiction and is meant to be taken as such.
Is this a good book? Not really. So many people seem to be obsessed with it and I can't quite figure out why. It seemed pretty mediocre to me. It takes itself to be answering some of the big questions about Christianity, like the problem of evil, the trinity, or questions about whether or not pra...more

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Oct 22, 2008 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone!!! :)

Having had no understanding of this books content before opening it, I must admit it rocked my little world a bit. It is incredibly well written and engaging from the start. I don’t want to say too much as I think this book is meant to be experienced with as little influence as possible. I will say it made me see many things in a much different way. It helped me grasp something that I struggle with and ultimately confirmed some of my own thoughts about things. I am being cryptic I know—but I don...more

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Nov 11, 2008 Katharine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: life, drama, christian

The Shack was not particularly shocking to me on any level. I didn't find it life-changing, it didn't rock my perceptions of my faith, and it certainly isn't the best book about God I've ever read. On the other hand, neither did I think it was a cesspit of heresy and sacrilege.

In case you don't know, The Shack is about a man named Mack who has suffered great and terrible loss in his life. One weekend he receives a mysterious invitation to journey back to the shack, a place that represents the...more The Shack was not particularly shocking to me on any level. I didn't find it life-changing, it didn't rock my perceptions of my faith, and it certainly isn't the best book about God I've ever read. On the other hand, neither did I think it was a cesspit of heresy and sacrilege.

In case you don't know, The Shack is about a man named Mack who has suffered great and terrible loss in his life. One weekend he receives a mysterious invitation to journey back to the shack, a place that represents the worst thing that has ever happened to him, the murder of his daughter. At the shack he meets God, literally. The rest of the book is about Mack's healing and eventually forgiving God for what has happened to him.

On a strictly literary level, the book is pretty mediocre. I gave it back to the person from whom I borrowed it, so you're lucky this time – I can't quote extensive passages. But generally, my friend Lise's phrase about prose being both purple and pedestrian applies to The Shack perfectly. The descriptions are garish and awkward, with lots of words like "cacophony" which do not mean what the author thinks they mean. The plot is also set up with a framing device I found very off-putting and strange. It would have been much easier to get into the story, much more immediate, if we'd jumped right in rather than sitting through a long-winded introduction by the author as supposedly the "friend" of the main character, Mack.

As theological metaphor, it does have a few good moments. I'd already heard of this as the book in which God appears as a black woman, so I wasn't particularly shocked by that. I'm not sure I think writing a book for shock value is usually a good idea, but I understand what the author was trying to accomplish by representing God in a way that challenges the usual Western concept of Him. So that doesn't really bother me. I liked the representation of the Trinity, and some of the conversations between God and Mack about suffering, choice, and God's will are very nicely done.

However, there are other books that have done the same thing and done it better. C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters was the one that came immediately to mind. I'm tempted to say that anyone who was swept away by The Shack needs to read a little more and probably explore the Christian heritage farther back than John Eldridge.

As I drew closer to the end of the book, I found some commentary that did bother me. The Shack, like so many other trendy Christian books, seems to think that it is too cool to call itself Christian. I do understand that like Mack in the book, there are people who have been let down by the church. I also get that bad things have been done in the name of religion. But that does NOT make "church" a dirty word, and it does not make "religion" irrelevant, and I'm tired of hearing it from books who are too snobbish to say what they are. There is nothing wrong with being "religious", OKAY? All that means is that you live out your faith, among other things by getting together to support others who believe the same things. This is established in the Bible – it's not some evil conspiracy.

Same thing with TEH EVIL of "ritual" – that is an age-old way to worship God and if you find it boring, go find a church that doesn't have any, but quit implying that makes you a better Christian. Remember, God is not only the Creator of waterfalls and earthquakes, he's also the God who invented music theory and mathematics. Maybe sometimes order and logic is okay with Him. THINK about it. *sigh* All right, I'm done ranting. This has been bothering me.

On the whole, I'm not going to get all twisted in knots about The Shack, either way. If you find it helpful and thought-provoking, yay for you. I'd suggest that you might want to check out C.S. Lewis as well, but whatever works.

Meanwhile, I'll just be over here getting all religious and enjoying my rituals at church, thanks. (less)

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Aug 17, 2008 Bear rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you read one book in your life, read this one. I shall not delve into the story; let's just say this author thinks like I do. He also struggles with the same things I do; How to deal with people who have hurt others in the most heinous way. I really can't go into this too much; you just have to read it for yourself to understand how I feel about religion, "church", and the Trinity. We humans are so busy trying to control each other and control ourselves, that we miss the true message. It's so...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Marci rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I can't tell you how disappointed I was in William P. Young's book The Shack. While at first look this is a tender story of a father who has lost his young daughter to a serial killer, the book is much, much more than that. It is an exposition on the very nature of God. In Young's The Shack, God portrays himself to the main character, Mack, as a large, round black woman. Being a work of fiction, I could go with that. I have large, round black women as friends and adore them. But God or Papa, as...more

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Jun 07, 2008 Donovan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any Christian who wants to continue to ask questions and deepen their faith.

Recommended to Donovan by: Tom Sparks

Shelves: spirituality

When reading The Shack, be prepared some laughs and smiles, but mostly, be prepared for a well of tears. I'm a movie and book crier by nature. I'll admit that my wife and daughter give me the raised eyebrow and look at me strangely when I choke up while watching a sitcom and all I can do is sheepishly say, "Did you see how she helped that lady" or something like that. Well, be warned, if you also have a weakness for tears or if you are a father, the tears will hit you like a flood.

This book is a...more When reading The Shack, be prepared some laughs and smiles, but mostly, be prepared for a well of tears. I'm a movie and book crier by nature. I'll admit that my wife and daughter give me the raised eyebrow and look at me strangely when I choke up while watching a sitcom and all I can do is sheepishly say, "Did you see how she helped that lady" or something like that. Well, be warned, if you also have a weakness for tears or if you are a father, the tears will hit you like a flood.

This book is a story of God sharing his heart with a broken man. The first section of the book will hit you in the chest, as it describes what the author calls "The Great Sadness" of the novels protagonist.

I'm a lover of well written novels and it was well over a decade ago that I decided there were way too many books being published every year, not to mention the thousands and thousands of good books previously written, to spend time reading a poorly written one. This book is an exception to that rule. It isn't the writing that kept me going, it was the content.

I don't know the authors story, but the jacket says that "he suffered a great loss as a child and young adult". The best books are those written about what an author knows - either researched or experienced. This is what you will find in The Shack. The author has wrapped a story around what he feels passionate about.

I won't give away the story or the message, but I will say that is resonated strongly with me. At the core it is about God's unfailing love for his children. His desire to draw every one of his children to him. How this love transcends our hurts and tragedies. How he ususes even the worst situations as avenues of redemption.

I didn't read The Shack with my theologian hat on. I didn't critique every line to evaluate how it stood up to my interpretation of systematic or historical theology. This is not a book of theology - I read it as a man sharing his heart and what he has learned on his journey - putting it in a fictional format.

It is his journey and heart that resonated with me.

Read The Shack - not for its literary prowness or theological intellectualism - but to be moved and challenged in your thinking of God.

I'll end with a brief sample to taste your appetite. This is Jesus conversing with the main character, Mack;

"Our is earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her." As Jesus spoke, his voice intensified in subdued anguish. "Some have attempted to help her but most have simply tried to use her. Humans, who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her with no consideration other then their immediate needs. And they give little thought for their own children who will inherit their lack of love. So they use her and abuse her with little consideration and then when she shudders or blows her breath, they are offended and raise their fist at God."
"This blue-green ball in black space, filled with beauty even now, battered and abused and lovely."
"I know that song. You must care deeply about the Creation," smiled Mack.
"Well, this blue-green ball in space belongs to me," Jesus stated emphatically."(less)

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Oct 06, 2008 Christina rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone willing to dig deeper.

Shelves: christian-fiction

5 stars? Ya, I know it's crazy because I guess this is a super-controversial book... but I am rating it this way because of it's impact - not because of it's sound theology. The view of the trinity in this book is one I had never considered. And, although it challenged a LOT of my fundamentalist upbringing, it inspired me to return to the Bible and learn more - find the closeness with God described in The Shack and to see what God's Word said regarding his triune relationship. NEVER should anyon...more 5 stars? Ya, I know it's crazy because I guess this is a super-controversial book... but I am rating it this way because of it's impact - not because of it's sound theology. The view of the trinity in this book is one I had never considered. And, although it challenged a LOT of my fundamentalist upbringing, it inspired me to return to the Bible and learn more - find the closeness with God described in The Shack and to see what God's Word said regarding his triune relationship. NEVER should anyone replace the Bible with a book that is claimed to be fiction by it's own author - but 5 stars to the man who can make your heart yearn to know more about the Lord through a fiction tale.

The book at times moves you to laugh, to cry and to dig deeper.

for more on my review... visit www.christinaklas.com

So... that's my review... As of late people, in the Christian circle, have been discussing whether or not it is 'right' to read a book... Since when has it been wrong to read anything? I would really LOVE to read the Koran. But - I want to READ it - Not BELIEVE in it. If your faith is not strong enough to discern between fact and fiction than, really there are more important things to worry about... And you know what? The Shack is an extremely popular book right now. So, people are going to talk about it. There are even non-christians reading it and asking questions... I have no idea what they are talking about if I have not read it. Now, the Bible can answer all of their questions... I just might not understand the context.

Some reviews by Christians, of whom their opinion is valued, have even gone so far as to call the act of putting the Holy Spirit and God the Father in human form - sinful. That is dangerous ground in my opinion. The author is admittedly a Christian. A God-fearing, deity of Christ believing man. And, his work is admittedly fiction. Is it not just as dangerous to portray God in animal form? As a lion perhaps? But we don't question the validity of CS Lewis' works. And - have you read "The Last Battle"? Not exactly correct theology there - yet fundamentalist Christian churches across the globe don't hesitate to teach sermon after sermon on the symbolism of the redemption story.

Have you reviewed The Shack without reading it? Or, have you put words in the authors mouth without asking him his intentions? I hope I never write a book. I am as sinful as it gets... And, I know that if I write a piece of work I too will deserve to be called sinful - BECAUSE I AM.... and you know what? So are you. Let authors have their creative freedom. Let people read what they want to and help them to discern the truth from it. If we want people to grow to maturity - shouldn't we let them question their faith a little? And stop scaring people away from having honest questions... It's time to get off the milk like babes and learn to eat solid food. We do that through questioning... and then affirming the truth.(less)

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Oct 22, 2008 Ibrahim rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: spirituality, literature, thinkers-i-adore

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The story was a bit of drudgery to me in the beginning as the scene setting took a few chapters, but once immersed in the discussion with God one finds it reads with more thoughts as well as more ease. The character of the poofy wife is too syrupy, and she represents a lot of Christians who think they know all there is to know about God and ARE perfectly comfortable with their state no matter what befalls them. But for those of us who dare to ask and recognize that we know so little, Mack is our...more

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May 24, 2012 Leslie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2008 Debbi rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: faith, fiction, book-club, audio, read-in-2008, waste-of-time

I had to read this for book club and I did not like it. Bad theology wrapped up in a sappy soap opera type book.

I don't disagree with the message that God loves us and wants a relationship with us, but this book is so full of pot-holes and misinterpretations that renders useless:

The Jesus character says: “My life was not meant to be an example to be copied....It is a means for your independence to be killed”.

Huh?? What Bible is the author reading? What about St. Paul telling us to be imitators...more

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Sep 10, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Chris by: Gary Deddo

I put off writing this review for a couple days because I wanted to give it some thought first. What I didn't have to think about was how much I enjoyed the book. Despite some distractingly clunky writing (the book was self-published and often reveals the need of an editor) it was truly invigorating, stimulating, and mind-expanding. I loved reading it. Young's story of a man's encounter with God, and his interaction with him over the terrible pain and suffering he has experienced, is packed with...more I put off writing this review for a couple days because I wanted to give it some thought first. What I didn't have to think about was how much I enjoyed the book. Despite some distractingly clunky writing (the book was self-published and often reveals the need of an editor) it was truly invigorating, stimulating, and mind-expanding. I loved reading it. Young's story of a man's encounter with God, and his interaction with him over the terrible pain and suffering he has experienced, is packed with theological insight into God's character. The look at God is fresh and appealing; I've never read a book that so clearly shows how God's nature as a Trinity demonstrates his love and compassion. Young makes a powerful presentation of God's goodness that is sadly way beyond most Christians' impression of him. Even much good theology misses the boat on God's character, saying he is good and loving but failing to spell it out it in the way Young does here.

It's the theology that made me think a bit about how to review the book. There is a lot of negative reaction to The Shack out there by people who say it is heretical, or at least theologically suspicious. For example, people have criticized his portrayal of the Trinity as being theologically incorrect. But honestly, no one is going to be able to perfectly portray God accurately in a way that humans can understand. Young's attempt is SO much better than most of what is out there, and a great corrective to how almost all of us tend to think about God either as three individuals, or as essentially just one being, neither of which is correct. Kudos to Young for introducing a whole generation to the concept and relevance of the Triune God! (It's weird that people would nitpick a pretty good presentation of the Trinity when most books, sermons, etc. miss the boat entirely. Maybe we're just happier with the bad theology we're used to.) Others have criticized Young's tendency towards universal reconciliation--the idea that all people will be saved by God eventually, even out of hell. All I can say is that this belief is never directly stated in the book. But Young does seem to veer in that direction, and his discussion of judgment leaves you asking a lot of questions. A person may read this book and see how loving and good God is, but then be puzzled when they read the Bible and see that God judges evil, nations, etc. Young doesn't really explain that very well, and gives an oversimplified view of God's good character. That's actually my biggest concern about recommending the book. It's too bad, because I think God can be shown to be this loving, with judgment still in the picture. One last criticism people have voiced is that Young is anti-church. That may be true. Some of his statements could be read that way. But they could also be read as just being suspicious of church politics, people emphasizing the institution over the relationships, etc. I never felt like the church was being bashed, or people being told not to go.

All in all, I think this is a great, provocative book and I highly recommend it for those who have some depth in scripture which they can use to really think it through. It is probably also really good for people who have been angry with God or are trying to process pain and suffering in their own lives. However, it's tricky enough that I wouldn't hand it out as general reading unless I could be in dialogue about it with the people I gave it to.

Oh and finally, a word to all those people who are so worked up about the book's theological "inaccuracies": every book has them, unless it is the Bible. This is a human work wrestling to understand the Biblical God. Some have objected to Eugene Peterson's comparing this book to Pilgrim's Progress. For goodness sake, Pilgrim's Progress contains a moment where Moses runs up to the main character and knocks him to the ground--apparently in an attempt to describe the affect the law on a person before Christ comes. Not exactly an accurate picture of the godly character of Moses, or of the goodness of the law as described in the New Testament. Anyway, the point is that the theology of The Shack is not perfect, but neither is anyone else's. Personally, I found it to be a great stimulus to thought and to my relationship with God.(less)

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Jun 23, 2008 MistyAnne rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this book with the recommendation from a librarian friend of mine, and I read it less than a weekend. Overall, it's not great literature, but The Shack is an interesting window into contemporary Christian culture and its dealings with the doubt, violence, and uncertainty in our world.

The novel does ask the average Christian reader to stretch his or her preconcieved notions of the Trinity: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not as one might imagine them. Though I was thrilled to see "God"...more

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Jul 05, 2008 Jillzbop rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fresh, yet sweet look in to the Trinity. A story of a man's journey to meet with God after the tragic death of his young daughter. This completely rocked...is rocking...my world and the way that I see God.

15 likes · like · see review

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About Wm. Paul Young

William Paul Young was the eldest of four, born May 11, 1955, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, but the majority of his first decade was lived with his missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua), among the Dani, a technologically stone age tribal people. These became his family and as the first white child and outsider who ever spoke their language, he was granted...more

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Quotes from The Shack: Where Trage...

“Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person's throat......Forgiveness does not create a relationship. Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible. When you forgive someone you certainly release them from judgment, but without true change, no real relationship can be established.........Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive. But should they finally confess and repent, you will discover a miracle in your own heart that allows you to reach out and begin to build between you a bridge of reconciliation.........Forgiveness does not excuse anything.........You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. And then one day you will pray for his wholeness......” — 786 people liked it

“Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you.” — 681 people liked it

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