The Shack

by William P. Young

book data

19,806 ratings, 3.61 average rating, 7,802 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		26%
3		21%
2		12%
1		7%

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published

May 1st 2007 by Windblown Media

binding

Paperback, 256 pages

url

http://www.theshackbook.com

isbn

0964729237 (isbn13: 9780964729230)

description

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is...more

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02/21/08

Kim♥ rated it:

bookshelves: -, e-c-

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: I don't recommend this book to anyone.

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 W...more

Like this review? yes (55 people liked it)

24 comments

02/03/08

Christie rated it:

Read in June, 2008

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 p...more

Like this review? yes (36 people liked it)

4 comments

09/24/08

Jay rated it:

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 goi...more

Like this review? yes (46 people liked it)

20 comments

02/26/08

Mike rated it:

bookshelves: general-fiction

Read in April, 2008

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: S...more

Like this review? yes (29 people liked it)

16 comments

12/01/08

Renee rated it:

Read in November, 2008

Pure Dribble. 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 ki...more

Like this review? yes (25 people liked it)

9 comments

09/07/08

Amanda rated it:

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Amanda 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 t...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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Like this review? yes (27 people liked it)

7 comments

06/02/08

Eric Bjerke rated it:

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

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Eric by: Saw on internet, heard it was controversial
recommends it for: Everyone

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 ra...more

Like this review? yes (21 people liked it)

7 comments

08/24/08

Alysa Sawyer rated it:

bookshelves: own

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Not really anyone

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

I will start off by saying that I do not usually type out “reviews” of books. I am giving you my opinion of this book now because I can find a ton more positive reviews about this book than negative. Especially within the Christian community; most of the reviews/comments I have read give mostly praise and “how this book changed my life” perspectives. Personally, for a book that many people consider as Christian Fiction; I find this book to be mostly unbiblical and very questionable. I wa...more

Like this review? yes (18 people liked it)

9 comments

12/16/08

Jill rated it:

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.

Like this review? yes (12 people liked it)

3 comments

01/24/09

C.J. rated it:

bookshelves: classics---literary

Read in February, 2009

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 ...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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10 comments

01/16/09

Mary rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2009

recommended to Mary by: it was a Christmas present
recommends it for: no one... not even my worst enemy

*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 t...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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9 comments

07/29/08

Elisa rated it:

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 a...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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06/21/08

Lisa rated it:

bookshelves: spiritual

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Lisa by: Lauri

I did not care for this book; the writing is earnest but very stilted, and I only finished it b/c it was our book club selection. I understand it was originally written as a story for his family, and the fact that it has taken off suggests that message trumps style in the eyes of many. It is hard to critique a book that has the potential to be profound for others without minimizing its value for them. This book has a strong take away message for many. True seekers will find their own paths, ...more I did not care for this book; the writing is earnest but very stilted, and I only finished it b/c it was our book club selection. I understand it was originally written as a story for his family, and the fact that it has taken off suggests that message trumps style in the eyes of many. It is hard to critique a book that has the potential to be profound for others without minimizing its value for them. This book has a strong take away message for many. True seekers will find their own paths, all of which ultimately lead to the same place, in my opinion.

Why the low rating? Not for the same reason as some others who have written harsh reviews. I don’t have a problem with the underlying message, and I can see past doctrinal differences, etc. I don’t consider it heretical. I did not find the characterization of God as Papa or an African-American woman (why the American and not just African?) the least bit blasphemous. God cannot be reduced to one human image. Having said that, the various characterizations of the Trinity do seem contrived, and in at least one case, insulting. To depict Jesus as ugly because of his “Jewish” nose (111) is so unbelievably offensive I don’t know where to begin. Granted the idea is our soul/being is more than physical appearance, but was this the only way to make the point?

I have respect for people who seek to have a deeper understanding of man’s relationship with God and God’s relationship with man. The role of evil in a world where God exists has been well answered for many through Eastern religions, Catholicism, Judaism, and no doubt others, but for those still seeking to reconcile the two, perhaps this can provide some answers to satisfy them. The bottom line FOR ME is that this book is somewhat pedantic and certainly not ground breaking.

I have given this book low marks, but because it can find its way into the hands of some who will benefit from it, I give it the extra star to bring it to two. I believe the people who say they have been profoundly affected, and if their responses match something a potential reader yearns to experience, then perhaps this is a vehicle for that.
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06/15/08

Shane rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in June, 2008

recommended to Shane by: My grandpa
recommends it for: certain Christians, with reservation

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 n...more

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08/11/08

booklady rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommended to booklady by: Rosemary
recommends it for: Everyone!

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 way.

It begins with an unspeakably horrible tragedy happening to a...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 way.

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 is my belief that is its 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 and every one of us, His creatures. Mack heals as we may also heal, if we need any spiritual healing, through opening to God’s love.

As I mentioned early on, I am no expert in Theology and I have no doubt there are probably 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 or 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.

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10/07/08

Jennifer rated it:

Read in October, 2008

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—b...more

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11/04/08

Katharhino Taylor rated it:

bookshelves: christian, drama, life

Read in November, 2008

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 repr...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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08/17/08

Bear rated it:

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 me...more

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

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06/29/08

Marci rated it:

bookshelves: 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

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

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06/02/08

Donovan rated it:

bookshelves: spirituality

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Donovan by: Tom Sparks
recommends it for: Any Christian who wants to continue to ask questions and deepen their faith.

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. ...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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