Back of the book blurb: 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 his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant “The Shack” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?”
Thoughts from She is Too Fond of Books: The Shack and I have a bit of a history. When my TriCon book group chose it for our most recent selection, I somewhat reluctantly added it to my TBR shelf. This review may be a bit more disjointed than my typical book reviews, as I’m incorporating my thoughts with those of the other women in the group.
First a bit about the group … I belong to two book groups - one with about 14 women in my neighborhood, the other with about 10 women, 8 from my church. Although we have our Christian faith in common, we read other than faith-based books. Books we’ve discussed include A Thousand Splendid Suns, On the Road, Olive Kitteridge, The Worst Hard Time, and The Scarlet Letter.
The group was all over the map with our opinions. Two loved The Shack, and would eagerly press it into the hands of anyone who expressed the slightest interest. Two couldn’t finish it; I hadn’t finished it before our meeting last week, but I did press on and read through the end. One thought it was silly, that Young’s attempts at humor (such as the Gideon Bible on the bedside table in the shack) fell flat. One thought that writing about God in this way diminished His spirit. Several cited both positive and negative in the book.
What did I think? I ran warm (not hot) and cold. I actually had less trouble with the “inner” story, which took place when Mack returned to the shack looking for God; I saw this part as a lengthy allegory. The “outer” story, which brought us back to the weekend of the abduction, was clunky and inconsistent. Missy was taken while Mack was busy saving his son from drowning (he was “limp and unconscious” and needed mouth-to-mouth); a bit of overkill in my opinion, although a member of my book group said this scene might have been written to show that Mack was not negligent in his care of Missy, he was distracted by the need of another child.
The Phillips family had five children, two of whom were in their early 20s and no longer living at home. These older kids added nothing to the story – the reader never “met” them, they had no dialogue, no action or interaction … why were they there?!? Yup, I’m a stickler and that created a gaping hole for me.
What did I like? Young wrote a fantastic description of the near-crippling depression that overcame Mack in the three years since Missy’s murder:
Shortly after the summer that Missy vanished, The Great Sadness had draped itself around Mack’s shoulders like some invisible but almost tangibly heavy quilt. The weight of its presence dulled his eyes and stooped his shoulders. Even his efforts to shake it off were exhausting, as if his arms were sewn into its bleak folds of despair and he had somehow become part of it. He ate, worked, loved, dreamed and played in this garment of heaviness, weighted down as if he were wearing a leaden bathrobe – trudging daily through the murky despondency that sucked the color out of everything.
What else did I like? I had never heard this quote from Buckminster Fuller: “God is a verb.” I like that.
The Shack tries to cover a lot of ground, perhaps too much - redemption, forgiveness and grace are only the tip of the iceberg.
Who would I recommend the book to? I’m not sure that I would out-rightly recommend it, since it left me feeling more empty than when I started it. Some might argue that this is telling as to the power of The Shack on me; I’d argue back that it simply sucked energy out of me.
Have you read The Shack? Leave a note in the comments, tell me “thumbs up,” “thumbs down” or “take it or leave it” and I’ll link your review in the appropriate category below.
- ** These people think you should read The Shack, click to find out why:
- Leah at The Friendly Book Nook
- Amanda at Life and Times of a New New Yorker
- ** These folks say you should spend your time with another book:
- ** This group says the book has some silver linings among the storm clouds:
I haven’t read it, but my sister reviewed it here:
http://thefriendlybooknook.com/2008/07/17/the-shack-by-william-p-young/
She loved it.
Interesting thoughts, Dawn!!
I haven’t read it yet either, but am going to make a point to. It sounds like a great inspirational book. It kind of reminds me of a book that I just finished reading titled, “Murder by Family” by Kent Whitaker, which is a true story about the forgiveness journey that he goes through in forgiving the man who murdered his wife and youngest son- by the way the murderer happened to be his eldest son. I couldn’t stop reading – this book just gripped me and wouldn’t let go! I finished it in one day. I am going to check out “The Shack.”
I haven’t read it either, but my stepmother sure seemed to like it.
When I went to vote last November a woman in line in front of me was reading The Shack. Someone behind me commented on it and they got into a big discussion about it. The one reading it wasn’t crazy about it, but the one who commented said it was one of the best books she’s ever read. I don’t plan to read it.
Thanks for the interesting review, Dawn. Like Kathy, I’m going to give this one a pass.
Oh I liked it and reviewed it here:
http://lifeandtimesofanewnewyorker.blogspot.com/2009/01/shack-william-p-young.html
I wouldn’t say that I loved it though. I can definitely see how people could love it/hate it/take it/leave it.
Great review!
You know what? My family hasn’t discussed it yet. They live in Alaska though and I’m in New York so that might be the reason. I did talk to my sister and she liked it. But I think the disappearance of his daughter made a bigger impact on us than maybe most readers. When I was seven we went to Yosemite N.P. and she put me on a rubber tube and sent me down a little section of the river. She lost site of me and I was floating down the river for probably two or three hours before I was found. It really scared her and they even had rangers out looking for me and everything. So the story with Missy kind of hit home with our family.
I’ve heard a lot about this book, but been leery. I think I’m going to pass on it.
This novel didn’t do anything for me. I had liked how it started out but then it fizzled for me.
Great review! I like your description terms, “inner” and “outer” stories.
I haven’t read it and I’m not sure if I’m going to as that “empty” feeling you expressed having when you were through puts me in a reading slump.
I was happy to see you write about this book … quite a few people (whose reading tastes I don’t know about) raved about this book and I know it is topping the trade paperbacks for quite a while now. So I reqeusted it from PBS just to see what it was about. Not one I’ll be rushing to by any means but one I will probably read to make up my own mind about a “buzzed about” book.
[...] Carol’s Notebook (Phenomenal Girl 5)160. Carol’s Notebook (Eggs in Purgatory)161. She is Too Fond of Books (The Shack)162. She is Too Fond of Books (Fodor’s Walt Disney World with Kids 2009)163. She is Too Fond [...]
Yes, I’m very happy to read this book too. William Paul Young is brilliant.
Paul Young’s book The Shack has been praised as a masterpiece and condemned as heresy but never ignored.
My NIV. bible tells me that Jesus Christ,the One true Son of God,died for me on the cross at Calvary, in my place,about 2000 years ago.How then can Jesus Christ be portrayed as having hung there, a rather nondescript individual of what ever nationality the author wants to portray Him as,in direct disagreement as the Bible say and describes Him? To portray God our Creator as a portly black mixed blooded woman,the Holy Spirit of God as an equally nondescript female is sickening to the core.God Himself refers to Himself as Male,Jesus is the Son,and the Holy Spirit(the Counsellor) as He also.This is evil heresy,and the author himself is peddling a false god.The story may have some pulling power,but the description of God will be hard for him to answer on the Day of Judgement.
Calling The Shack a truly unique piece of literary genius would be an understatement. It would be like calling The Sistine Chapel a simple work of art. But like both masterpieces, you need to delve deeper to truly appreciate what is in front of you. The story’s premise is a simple one: the unconditional love God has for us all. It answers the questions we all grew up wondering and the answers just might change your entire outlook on life while changing your preconceived notions of theology. And yet, not everyone may agree with the ideas presented to them within the bindings of this work, they will all agree that this is the most thought provoking read to come out in years.
I just completed it. I bought it more-or-less on the recommendation of the pastor at the church I’m attending now. Here and there, there are nuggets of beauty and truth but the overall landscape is muddled and out-of-kilter with the Trinity I know. The actions of the characters are ungainly and idiosyncratic and the drama is forced. The first slap-in-the face is the old, OLD joke about an interview with the First American to actually see God; quote: “Well, first, she’s black.” Presumably that was intended to shock the reader, but the actions of the big black “mammy” character merely diminish, in my eyes, the Power of the Father.
Well-written storyline (and the admittedly well-edited manuscript help from friends in LalaLand) helps the reader get over an under-developed theology and results in a basically-satisfying read, but not something I would recommend to anyone else, particularly a new or otherwise-weak Christian or susceptible neophyte intellectual.