REVIEW: The Shack by William P. Young

Genre: Fiction, Christian Fiction
Pub Date: 2007, Windblown Media
Format: Trade Paperback, 248 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

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?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

MY THOUGHTS

Somehow I missed out on the initial wave of praise for this title--most likely because I had a lot going on that didn't involve reading when this book came out. (I was planning a wedding!) Fortunately a friend from my "life blog" recommended this to me, and though I am sometimes skeptical of books that are "all the rage" (I didn't read any Harry Potter books until well after the 4th one had been published), I decided to give this one a try, and I'm glad I did.

First and foremost, I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this book. Obviously we all have our own beliefs about God, so some of the ideas may hit us each differently. Did I agree with the way every idea and assumption about God was presented? No, but I also found some new insights and did appreciate many of Young's ideas he set forth in this book. Most importantly, it's a story that, while it takes you through the agonies a man experiences after losing a child, it also brings you to appreciate God's ultimate (if sometimes hard-to-see) goodness. Mack's experience and transformation are moving, and the story is told in a way that keeps you turning the pages even though you should be turning out the light to go to sleep. I enjoy books that provoke further thought, and for me The Shack was one of those.

 

Other reviews of The Shack (please let me know if you'd like me to add a link to yours!):
Kristina's Favorites
Reading in Appalachia
Peeking Between the Pages
The Book Zombie