I was really looking forward to reading this book for two reasons. One, I needed to read some fiction (I get in those moods sometimes) and two, it is apparently the rage. The Shack by William P. Young is currently one of the top selling books in the country. That is the beginning and the end of how I ended up with the book. I had no idea what it was about or that there was some minor controversy surrounding it.
The book’s storyline is that of a man, Mack, who is trying to live with the residual pain of his young daughter being abducted and murdered. His journey takes him into a literal encounter with God. Not just the concept of God, but actually interacting with each person of the Trinity. That is all I’ll tell you about the plot in case you wish to read it yourself.
The author takes great liberty in how he portrays the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as well as some general theological positions that would be very difficult to support scripturally. That being said, the book nor the author, to my knowledge, offers itself as an absolute answer to those things… it simply tells a fictional story. Even with a questionable theology, the story contains a couple of very gripping and challenging interactions between God and Mack.
I have seen a couple of reviews where this book is placed in the same category as Pilgrim’s Progress or other great works of Christian fiction. There are others who apparently think the author has dissected the Trinity to an understandable level. I would not agree with either assessment. The book is an average work of fiction with some interesting ideas. Many of the ideas do not challenge traditional theology, but some do and that is where I would offer caution. It would be dangerous to look to The Shack as a place to guide your view of God, how he operates or interacts with us.
My final assessment of the book is based only on it being a work of fiction. And as “The Dawg”, Randy Jackson, would say on American Idol… “it was just ok to me”. Not great and not bad… just ok. I think that puts me in the minority of folks who have read it, but that’s my take. The book has a website with lots of glowing comments from famous people here.
If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear what you thought about it.
I beg to differ. It was okay in places, but it was hands down one of the best fiction books out right now. It was easy to read, and had a positive message. Sorry you didn’t like it. We can’t all like everything.
I read this before the big tidal wave of popularity. Since then a number of people I respect have read it and have pointed out some legitimate concerns with the book. That being said, I loved it and bought books for all my immediate family and a number of friends. They all loved it and either passed it on to others or bought books for others. Additionally, I think a number of the “theological shortcomings/pitfalls” are unintentionally. The one big glaring one is how God is portrayed in the book (I won’t spoil it here). When confronted with that issue I asked why did he portray “Him” like that? My answer, to disrupt the religious people view of God and how he interacts. We as humans have pigeonholed God in so many ways…as one of my favorite songs communicates God is so much bigger than we let Him be. In this FICTIONAL story the author used a twist to make us think about that. Additionally, in the context of the story the author suggests that in order for Mack (the main character) to get over his preconceived notions of God, the Father, he presented God in the way he did. I have rambled on enough, but this book really meant a lot to me, helped me heal in some pretty big ways in my life, and brought me closer to God (in a very orthodox way).
I have made about half way through and simply lost interest. I am generally not a fan of fiction reading anyway.
I’m with Jamie. I started the book, but couldn’t finish. And yes, I normally do not read fiction either.
good site ksgohp