The Shack Book Review

The Shack by W.P. Yong is a journey for the soul only if you remind yourself several times this only fiction.  Young does a poor job of getting the reader interested in the beginning of the story plot. 
 
Willie, our story teller, has a friend, Mack, who is going through a “Great Sadness”.  When our story opens Mack has just found an invite from “Papa” better known as God to come for the weekend to the Shack.  The shack is where Mack’s young daughter, Missy just 4 years earlier had been allegedly taken and killed by her abductor on a camping trip that Mack and his three children had taken. Missy’s body was never found.  The dress she was wearing when she went missing is found in the shack full of blood.   Mack is unsure if the invite is a cruel joke from Missy’s abductor or a true invite from Papa.  However, Mack feels that he must take the trip back to the shack to face off with whom ever is behind the invitation.


Mack has been so mad and questioning of God and how such a great man could have let this happen to him and his daughter and their family.  Mack it would seem from the information Willie gives us has been rooted in faith but like most Christians has wavered during the “Great Sadness”.  Papa is Mack’s wife’s name for God.  She seems to have come to terms with God and with Missy’s fate and yet Mack still fights God’s will daily for Missy and himself.

Without exposing the entire plot I will tell you to remain true to your faith and your beliefs of who God is, how He looks, how we think of the Trinity and the overall plan God has for each of us could easily be challenged in this story.  If you are deeply rooted in theology and doctoring this may not be an easy read for you.  If you are in fact open to some religious exploration of what you believe in or just maybe searching for some inspiration without fire and damnation, then this is the book for you.

I have a teenager going through confirmation with in our Church and I think Young’s break down of the Holy Trinity would help him grasp the thought of three in one.  Some times we struggle to put faces and functions with the three and yet Young take us, at least me, way out of any comfort zones and puts a face and personal features like voice and mannerisms to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  I love this part of the book because never did I picture the sights Young has given me and now I see myself demanding why I had these images in my mind in the first place.  There is no description in the Bible that would have made me believe they were as I had portrayed them in my mind and yet I felt confident that Young’s descriptions were an extravagant characterization of them as well.


In closing I felt like a child on an emotional roller coaster as I read each page somewhat sad, then inspired, and then rereading my favorite parts of the book.  As a reader who enjoys mostly fiction and story lines that take complex twist with great characters, this was a welcomed surprise.  I love this book and not for Young’s style of writing, I think he could have done a better job in the beginning of the story however, I can’t help but see the similarity and comparisons to what God does when he’s allowing me to write my book of life.  My book of life is this very choppy beginning and it’s at times somewhat horrific and then with His grace He comes in and ties it all up and reads over it and encourages me to review it with fresh eyes.  He offers a surprise ending that is better than any book review… inspiration and salvation! 

The Shack is a must read and could easily be called a timeless book of faith and inspiration.   The Shack is a story that reaches and encourages both the soul that has only a flicker of light and the soul that is burning bright.  Keep in mind Young wrote this story for his family not the general public and yet the surge of public acceptance has put this book on the best sellers list in May 2008 as well as Oprah’s book club in January 2008.