Customer Reviews

Young's the Shack By William P. Young (The Shack By William P. Young)

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I read The Shack as a book discussion group assignment (said group consisting of theologically conservative pastors), and I can understand why the book is upsetting to many--whether because of the subject matter (the murder of a child) or because of some of the book's theological implications.

However, I think many are missing the point that the book is a parable, not a doctrinal treatise. I found reading the book to be an incredibly moving experience, and have (cautiously) recommended it to those in my circle of acquaintance whom I think would be able to digest its message.

I do find it interesting that so many evangelical Christians have had such a negative visceral reaction to this novel. This is especially remarkable in light of the fact that, by and large, evangelical Christianity has embraced C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia--this despite the fact that Lewis wove animism, Greek philosophy, and Roman mythology into his parabolic communication of Christian truth. Not to put too fine a point on it, but is it any more offensive to present God in the form of an African-American woman who cooks scones, than it is to present God's Son as an animal which imparts blessing to children by licking them in the face? (Incidentally, I thoroughly enjoyed the Narnian Chronicles as well.)

My recommendation: If you want theology, read the works of theologians. (Watch out for Sproul and other 5-pointers, though.) If you want an emotionally moving parable which hammers home the importance of a personal relationship with God, then buy and read--and be touched by--The Shack.

In the book world, it's hard to explain "the buzz." What causes word of mouth to start spreading? What turns an unknown author and novel into a surprise bestseller? Even more inexplicable for the book snobs is when a story fails to meet their literary standards and yet touches the masses in an undeniable way.

"The Shack" is the buzz book of the past few months. I hadn't even heard of it in November, but by the end of December I'd had relatives, friends, and online pals from across the country telling me I "had" to read this one. I've been burned by such recommendations in the past, particularly in relation to spiritually oriented titles. (Can anyone say "The Prayer of Jabez" and "Left Behind"?), but I was willing to give it a shot.

William P. Young's book has an intriguing premise. Years ago, a father name MacKenzie Phillips took his children camping and lost one of them to a man who has kidnapped and killed others. Mack has grieved since then. His marriage has struggled. Understandably, his relationship with God has suffered. Then, one wintry day, he receives a note in his mailbox inviting him back to the woods, to the shack in which his daughter's dress and bloodstains were found. The note, it would seem, is from God.

From this simple yet effective premise, Young leads Mack Phillips back to his point of despair and anger. The encounters he then has with God there in "The Shack" serve as thought-provoking moments for both Mack and the reader. This is not the God of stodgy Sunday school classes. This is not a flannel-graph Jesus. This is not limited to a fluttering dove of the Holy Spirit. The descriptions here are startling, while remaining true to the nature of God's love and grace as portrayed through Scripture. Not only are they startling, they're wise and moving and beautiful.

Some might argue that "The Shack" has little theology or accuracy to it, but the very argument is what Young is trying to melt away. I earned a Bachelor's from a Bible college, and the majority of Mack's godly encounters could be wrapped up in biblical theology: redemption, grace, forgiveness, propitiation, etc. Do I agree with every line of the book? Not necessarily. Yet, while never sounding like trite religion (because they're not and never should be!), the words spoken by God in this book are full of vibrancy and life.

Is it the best crafted novel ever? No. In many ways, it could be encapsulated in a non-fiction treatise. However, in sharing this remarkable tale in a fictional form, Young has breathed wonder and wisdom into a story that will continue to buzz around for years to come.

This is probably the most profound and best book I have ever read in my entire life. It has brought me totally back to God. I have never felt better. I totally identified with Mack and the Great Sadness which has been in my life also.

I am a Viet Nam combat vet. In Viet Nam I had forsaken God. I could not believe that God would permit such things to happen on Earth. But as I learned more about WWII and Korea and other World events my lack of disbelieve just strengthened. Until about six and one half years ago I felt a need to come back and test the waters. My oldest son was in 9-11 as a paramedic (he went in on his day off) and I was so proud of him, but I felt a need to find my faith, because he had found it. He was a block away from the second tower when it collapsed. He went on to fulfill his lifelong ambition to become a New York Fire Fighter and actually entered into the prestigious Squad One. But oh, what a price for him and his family to pay. So much death to witness, and all of those funerals to attend. I wished I could have protected him from that, but I could not. I failed. I hold myself accountable for this lack of ability to successfully fulfill my mission in life as a father, just like I do the men I sent to their deaths in Viet Nam and the hundreds of people I have killed. I have lived with Viet Nam inside me for over 35 years until recently. These are only some of the crosses I bear. This book has brought me full circle. It has helped me to restore my faith. I have helped several people to purchase this book and I will continue. But I now know what is important and what is not so important.

My Step-daughter Lisa recommended I read this book after she read a Christmas message I sent to all of my children, step-children and special friends over and over again. I had sent a picture of Arlington at Christmas that had touched me very close to my heart. So I wanted each of them to see this and understand this was the price of liberty and that there were men and women who were willing to give their lives on foreign soil to guarantee their rights under the constitution of the United States. I penned a personal message to each of the couples or person along with the general message.

To John and Lisa, who are House Pastors for a local church, I was sorry I was not stronger for them when Kelsey their newborn went to heaven. Kelsey was born with a small aorta and Dr. Starr in Portland, OR was going to fix that. He was the best. I felt we were fine, but I had no faith, just my gut instincts that had gotten me out of every other jam before except a couple that resulted in loss of life. I went to the hospital every noon to see Lisa and Kelsey and got to hold Kelsey and she was so innocent.. So the day came, Dr. Starr entered the waiting room with the bad news. Kelsey had not survived. John went to pieces and Lisa was helping him because she seemed stronger at the time. My wife was asking me if I was going to go to John and help him. She said this several times. I was standing up, but I was not there. I was near a river west of Danang trying to get two of my men out of a jam that I had ordered to stay back and lay down fire so we could extract some wounded. The smells, the visual, the noises were all real. My men were dead and so was Kelsey. I never told anyone about that until I wrote that letter. So Lisa read that over and over and recommended I read "The Shack". I am so glad she did too!!

I never loan books, so I gave it to a close friend. I purchased the hardbound edition for keeping and rereading.

Since reading "The Shack" I have never felt so whole in my entire life. I have redevoted my life to Jesus and I have laughed with him in his presence. Thank you for the Great Book. Thank you Paul for introducing me to Mack. He made me realize I was not alone. Be careful when they make this into a movie. I am not sure how they can do it justice.

One more thing. Take your time reading this book. Take time to smell the roses. If you cannot, then read it again.

Remember who is writing this review!! As Paul Young told me, live one day at a time and live in the moment. It is the only thing that is real. Enjoy your life!!

Wow am I really going to feel like a wet blanket. I hate to say it after all of these awesome reviews of this book, but I really didn't like it. Not just on a theological level either. I just didn't get to the destination that others have. I really don't want to be negative, especially when others have been so impacted by it. But here is what I think about The Shack.

First of all, being a former literature teacher, I actually am shocked by the comparison with Pilgrim's Progress. You are talking about the most popular book in human history second only to the Bible. Pilgrim's Progress is known for its emotional impact more than its literary accomplishment, so they are similar in that. But I think that is where the similarities end. The Shack is not well written at all and focuses on only one primary issue. PP covers the entire Christian walk and does so in a most unique way. It is not only the pinnacle of Christian literature, it is the best of an entire genre (allegory). PP relies upon the everyday Christian's ability to relate to the character Christian and his entire adventure. The Shack relies almost completely on the effect of trauma done to the characters.

Secondly, the theological problems are difficult to overlook. I don't understand the mentality that says, God is pictured as a lot of things in the Bible, so why can't I picture Him/Her as whatever I feel comfortable with? Well, because one of the most devastating forms of heresy is to give God identifiable form, hence the graven images commandment. That's why Jesus was described as one that we would not find outstanding by Isaiah. I have discussed this topic earlier in the year on my podcast, Christian with a Brain. We are not supposed to put God in a box, whether that box be an old, bearded, caucasian male, or an overweight African-American female, it doesn't matter. The truth is that when even an angel enters the scene, people fall on their faces in awe. Making God a poker buddy isn't going to improve my relationship with Him.

This is also part of what I believe to be the humanization of God. We are trying to fashion God in our image, and this book simply reinforces that idea. We have gone from one extreme (God is an impersonal force that wants to punish me) to the other (God blows smoke rings, listens to punk rock and is my buddy). This is exactly like the enemy. He beats us up with one wrong image of God, then he shoves us all the way off the other end of the shelf by presenting a completely different, wrong image of God.

God is my Father, my Abba, my Friend, my King, my Deliverer, my Redeemer, my Fortress, my Strong Tower, my Mother Hen, my Alpha and Omega, my Bread and my Savior and the Word tells me that this is indeed so.

Finally, the philosophy in this book is very weak. In fact, I still don't know the conclusion. If you were to try to communicate the lesson of this book in a syllogism, what would it be? I have an 8 year-old daughter and I hate to sound harsh, but this book terrified me and then never really gave me any satisfying resolution. I believe the problem of evil to be the best arguement in the atheist's arsenal, but this book did nothing to dull its sting. I believe there are powerful and effective answers to address the problem of evil, but in my opinion, this book didn't give them to me.

Wow. I really sound like I hated this book. I hope I haven't offended anyone. But I also have a commitment to communicate what I believe to be true. If you were one of those who really didn't understand the powerful love of God simply by reading the Gospels, then this book was probably a blessing. But other than that, I think it fell way short and may even be destructive for many.

You'll find over a hundred superlatively glowing reviews of this book on Amazon.com, and I think it's because in two of its primary aims -- to challenge your notions of God's "personality" and to assert that He, in all three Persons, loves you deeply and wants an actual relationship with you -- it succeeds vividly. Its colorful language and poignant approach, not to mention its straightforward, "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?" theodicy, are apparently helping to change multitudes of people's minds about what God is like, thankfully liberating them from soul-constricting religion along the way.

Its vividness and popularity are unsettling to me, however, for the book is but one man's fictional and very incomplete depiction of God: God is love, yes, without doubt -- hallelujah! -- but what of the God who kills Ananias and Sapphira for lying (Acts 5:1ff)? Or He who has His angel strike down King Herod because he doesn't properly ascribe praise (Acts 12:19ff)? Let alone the God who "deals out retribution to those who do not know [Him]" in the form of "eternal destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9) and the Jesus who, robe dipped in blood, mouth filled with a sharp sword, eyes like a flame, "judges and wages war," "strike[s] down the nations," "rules...with a rod of iron," and "treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God" (Revelation 19:11ff).

Without even a passing reference to God as ineffable King or worthy Judge, The Shack, despite its merits, is a simplistic, untrustworthy portrait of God. I think part of the reason for the growing hoopla surrounding the book is that in its pictorial writing style, The Shack is all too easily consumed and adopted by people who want their ears -- or eyes, to fit the mode of the prose more accurately -- tickled with images of a doting (if powerful), permanently good-humored god who makes them pancakes on the weekends. Certainly, it's easier to follow a God like this, but it's also delusional, if you take the Bible as truth.

Don't get me wrong: William Young's appreciation for and ability to communicate God's lovingkindness is wonderful, and necessary to a Christian world choked with Law. Nevertheless, if my criticism of The Shack is overly forceful -- and it is; I do like this book -- it's because I see the book being embraced with nothing but naive, uncritical, and untempered enthusiasm.

Purportedly, this book will help the reader answer the question "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?". Unfortunately, the book's storyline has "god," in the form of a large African-American woman, residing in a mountain shack with the gardner Jesus and an ethereal, tear-collecting female being representing the Holy Spirit. The lack of theological or Biblical basis for this odd scenerio has one asking why churches have not risen up in the same wrath as was directed at "The DaVinci Code."

Mack, the story's main character, is a man who is haunted by his own personal past, as well as by the disappearance and probable death of his child at the hands' of a serial killer. Spending a weekend at the shack with the unlikely trio, Mack is able to come to terms with his emotional turmoil and to solve his daughter's case. However, he only does this after a near fatal automobile accident which occurs just after he leaves the weekend retreat.

A dear friend recommended this book and gave me her lending copy. She said the book had a profound effect on her. Further, it had helped her to deal with a very unsettling personal situation. I was told to be prepared to weep while reading and to keep a box of Kleenex handy. Understanding that each individual might be affected differently, I was not expecting a spotlight from heaven to shine down while I was reading. Nevertheless, I did expect some thoughtful and thought provoking writing.

Instead, I found the writing in this book to be less than satisfactory. Simplistic and, somewhat trite, it did not inspire me nor did it have any transformational impact. The first third of the book consisted of the basic story and only rated an average review. The second third of the story was implausible and, to Christian believers, probably heretical. Had I based my review on these two parts of the book, it would not have rated above two stars. The third portion of the book had some interesting inspirational thoughts and for that reason caused me to rate this book three stars. The best part of this book was the quote from different historical figures that headed each chapter.

This book is not one to give to individual seeking an answer to their faith questions or to individuals seeking to find a faith. Better choices would be books by John Ortberg, Max Lucado, or Michael Newman; all these authors bring a deep faith and a way of expressing it so that the layperson can reach an understanding of the subject matter.

"The Shack" is not a book that should have been promoted by the press as anything other than a mediocre story with New Age spiritual overtones.

I really wanted to love this book. Halfway through, I really wanted to LIKE it. In college, we used to call Astronomy 101 "Physics for Poets". This is "Poetry for Physicists". Way too bland and painfully adolescent in it's prose. Then Young tries to explain the Godhead as if speaking to six year-olds. I'm 100% okay with using a comforting, readable storyline with a unique, metaphorical look at the trinity. In other words, I am not offended, just bored. Thing is, this book (A) uses a very heart-wrenching subject matter (the abduction of a child), (B) mostly ignores that important storyline in favor of a almost comical twist, and (C) wants to tie it all up in a neat little bow. The writing is too simplistic for me. I don't need to be dazzled in a "literary" way, but geeze, this should have fallen into the category of pre-teen fiction, not adult fare. In the end, it made me sad that books like this make the bestseller list and create so much buzz.

...this book was so poorly written as to be painful. I actually purchased this book because I, myself, have lost a child to extreme violence and suffered with my own great sadness, and the glowing reviews that I came across for it whispered to me of a measure of comfort. I couldn't wait to get a copy and dive in. I needed to feel that kinship with God, even if it was through fiction, that had been lacking since He let my child be brutally murdered and taken me for reasons that I can not fathom. Needed to know that I wasn't alone in my pain. I did find great comfort in C.S. Lewis's "A Grief Observed," for example, so I knew that it was possible for me to seek and find a measure of solace in other people's shared sorrow. I understand that reading a story (that's what it is, a work of fiction) about one man's relationship with God can bring comfort to many who are broken, but dear Lord, this book was a crap salad. The author's lack of writing skill, the syrupy tripe, the ridiculous foreword - Our Hero left home at 13 and 'ended up' overseas somehow for the next part of his life? Coming from farm folk that probably never thought to get him a passport? Oh, please - how stupid does the author think his audience is? The trite "tin box full of worldly possessions" - how overdone a device does the author need to inject into the first few pages? At least I can say that I was forewarned, yet I trundled on, blindly - mea culpa, mea massima culpa. And it only gets worse from there. The author's need to dress almost every phrase with overused similes or metaphors made reading this book distasteful. I actually said to my husband, 'the people that urged this person to pursue a career in writing should be forced to read literature as penance."
Let me just say before I sum up: Please don't take offence if you read this book and you loved it. I'm not attacking you. I'm opining, which is what this space is for. If it changed your life for the better, good for you. I truly am happy that it did. The world needs more people who look at the bigger picture and do their damnedest to love one another. There's too much hate and anger simmering in the general populous. Just don't attack me because I didn't like it.
So here's my review in a nutshell: this book is poorly written drivel that will appeal to the under-read and under-educated who don't know to seek meaning in books of superior structure, quality, and constitution.
Peace.

As an atheist, I just want to say...wow. Is that the best you've got?

The blurb on the cover says "THE SHACK will leave you craving for the presence of God." Genuinely curious, and with an open mind, I started reading.

So you get four chapters of folksy family fun, culminating in what appears to be a shocking murder -- these scenes are rendered well enough, and I (the father of a young girl myself) felt the protagonist's anguish well enough to keep reading.

Then, abruptly and with a deafening grinding of gears, the book veers off into the weeds, where it remains firmly wedged for the balance of its page-count. Ponderous and inpenetrable, jargon-heavy and utterly lacking in anything resembling a narrative, it's sort of like a cross between a Thomas Kinkade painting and the second & third Matrix movies -- winsome and twee, but utterly tangled up in the minutiae of its own mythology, blundering blindly forward with its shoelaces tied together, firing platitudes and cod-philosophy around in the vain hopes that some of it might hit home. Whole pages, whole chapters go by, with the author staggering around in a kind of fog of theology, apparently trying to resolve age-old questions but instead writing things like "Guess that's jes' the way I is" and "Don't confuse adaptation for intention, or seduction for reality."

And so it wears on, chapter after chapter of clunky dialogue about ill-defined concepts which are picked up and dropped like the toys of a hyperactive child, apparently seeking to clarify but succeeding only in obscuring all meaning in a lavender cloud of unicorn farts. By about chapter 6 or 7, the Missy plot seems like a distant memory, and the reader's only concern is to get out of this book alive.

As a novel, then, this is a laughable effort, but I know it is not primarily intended to be a novel -- it is intended to be a recruiting tool, aimed at winning non-believers over into the theist camp with a sort of warm-n-cozy new-agey version of Christianity, in which the Holy Trinity are a kind of nonthreatening multicultural sitcom family, a trio of irascible kooks with hearts of gold, etc. etc. There may, I suppose, be some hypothetical atheists who are so close to rock bottom that they glimpse some sort of salvation or meaning in this book. But seriously, I doubt there could be more than a few dozen.

So go ahead and feel free to give this book to a 'lost'/'seeking'/'fallen' friend or family member. Make them part of your secret 'Missy Project' (as touted on Young's website), earn a few more bucks for the author and rack up some points with the man (sorry, woman, er, no, I mean women, or do I?...) upstairs. Just know that the lucky recipient will, the next time you see them, give you an amused (or bemused) look, and say something like "Um, yeah, thanks for the book and all," while backing slowly towards the door.

If this kind of arcane, ill-constructed, mush-mouthed tripe is what passes for serious Christian writing these days, I'm quite happy to leave you to it, dickering over the True Nature of the Trinity or the exact temperature of Hell -- instead I'll smilingly opt to brush off a copy of Middlemarch or Howards End, or maybe a spot of Vonnegut or Wodehouse, and get a bracing, swooningly beautiful dose of the real meaning of life.

Good day.

<closes shack door with a relieved 'click'>

I read this book to see what all the fuss was about. What I found was a book that has the potential to do a lot of harm and very little good.

I'll leave the plot summaries to other reviewers. Instead, I want to address three serious flaws in the book: (1) it does not deal in a helpful way with the problem that is supposedly at its heart, (2) it portrays God without reverence as a being who is not holy, just, fair, or better than humans, and (3) the book is consistently anti-intellectual and basically ignores the human aspects of the relationship between God and mankind, while pretending to explain it in a few little catchphrases.

First, the book is about healing - it is supposed to explain how the main character, Mack, found healing after suffering "The Great Sadness," the horrible murder of his daughter. The first fundamental flaw is that it never does this in a useful or helpful way. While much of what William Young says about God and God's attitude towards people is true, the neat and tidy solutions the book presents are irrelevant to almost any real-world pain.

Rarely is justice served in the here-and-now, complete with restored relationships, an absence of pain, and direct reassurance from God that our loved ones are safe and happy in heaven. God rarely, if ever, works that way. Pain and suffering require better solutions than a fictional story about how God fixed almost every hurt in one family's life through a miraculous intervention. Miracles are the exception; pain without God directly speaking to us is the norm. A book about God's relationship to us in our pain and suffering which fails to recognize this is worse than useless; it is misleading and actually capable of creating more problems than it solves.

Second, the book has an even greater flaw: it simultaneously portrays God as too much like us, while presenting a God who doesn't care much what we believe or what we do with our time on Earth. The Jesus of the Bible says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6). He also says, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction" (Matthew 7:13). The Jesus of "The Shack" says things like, "I am the best [as opposed to only] way any human can relate to [the Father] or [the Holy Spirit]" (page 110), "I'm not asking you to believe anything" (page 119), or, when asked whether all roads lead to God, "Most roads don't lead anywhere" (page 182).

Further, the god of "The Shack" is not holy or just - while the God of the Bible feels anger over the sins of the world, even while forgiving sinners, the god of "The Shack" never gets angry. The real God tells us to have faith, work hard, love each other, and be content with what He gives us; Young's god tells us she doesn't care about faith, or what we do on our own, or our love for each other unless it's really about her, or contentment with social order. No, Young's god will submit to *us* in the same way we submit to her. Young wants radicals who devalue work, authority, and respect, and refuse to acknowledge that God does not usually take care of everything, without our participation.

Third, the book is consistently anti-intellectual. In "The Shack": seminaries are portrayed as godless, dead places, which teach nothing about love or relationship; reading the Bible is unimportant; regular prayer is unimportant; theology is unimportant. The Jesus of the Bible asks us to come to Him and trust Him; our justification before God depends on it. The Jesus of "The Shack," however, will chase us down and is unconcerned with faith. It's far easier to do what Young has done and paint seminaries, theology, authority, and the wisdom of the Bible as useless and old, than it is to try to understand the real, holy, and timeless God, who does not always explain His actions to us.

Perhaps the best indicator of how flawed Young's theology is can be found in the fact that he embraces the theology of Jacques Ellul, a self-described "Christian anarchist." Ellul rejects the existence of hell; all people, regardless of faith, he says, will be saved. This is not the biblical God. Ellul's god is firstly human, secondly divine. The God of the Bible, in contrast, is the only being who exists independently, the "I AM." God is not human; far from it.

All in all, "The Shack" is a dangerously flawed book. People who need answers would do far better to turn to the Bible - the book of Job is a great starting place - a pastor, or even a good friend and a cup of coffee.