The Shack |
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Author:
William P. Young
By Hodder & Stoughton
Average Customer Rating:   
List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £1.99
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780340979495
ISBN: 0340979496
Label: Hodder & Stoughton
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2008-07-17
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Studio: Hodder & Stoughton |
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indifferent theology, but poor quality literature, 2009-01-05
As a Christian myself, I don't want to be too harsh on a book which seems to mean well, and has clearly spoken to many. But as a piece of writing, 'The Shack' really is extremely poor: wooden, clichéd, pedestrian, and excruciatingly sentimental. Unlike other reviewers, I have no particular bones to pick with its trinitarian theology - but there are any number of accessible books that tackle problems of suffering and the nature of God better than this. (One thinks of the work of C.S.Lewis, for example, which stands head and shoulders above this nonsense.) I suspect its success is to do with the way in which `The Shack' has been marketed to an evangelical Christian constituency, in such a way as to persuade them that buying a whole set of these books for a friend is really an act of faith and evangelism - a marketing ploy that borders on the cynical. This sort of thing does no real credit to the cause of thinking Christianity. In short, if you are used to reading decent quality literature (whether you are religious or not), give this one a wide birth.
Typical American Schmalz, 2009-01-05
People who say that this is the best book they've ever read have clearly not read many books and are totally ignorant of all the great literature of the world, past and present. Far from giving anyone faith, as so many claim, it is enough to put them off religion. It's badly written, sentimental and theologically dubious. A waste of time! I can imagine Walt Disney making a schmalzy film of it. And the 'Missy Project' publicized at the end of the book seems to me a typically American attempt to boost sales disguised in the form of an attempt save people's souls!
A book to make you think, 2009-01-07
If this book does nothing else, it makes you look at the way our preconceived ideas about God influence the way we interact with Him. A book obviously written from the heart.
Enjoyed the difference of this book, 2009-01-06
I read this without knowing a lot about it so wasn't influenced by anything. I found it a little slow to start with then got quite a surprise when it became obvious what the theme was. I am a christian and found the way the ideas about God were portrayed were very good - OK you might be able to argue here and there about the 'correctness' of some of it but the most important thing was that it gave a great way to understand God and goodness and how and why God doesn't intervene when things go so wrong for us.
I enjoyed the unusualness of this book and it wasn't over-religious for those who might be worried!!
Good beginning and end, muddled middle, 2009-01-08
Four years ago, Mack's little daughter was brutally murdered in a crumbling old shack. Since then, he's been consumed by The Great Sadness, which has distanced him from his wife and other children. Now Mack receives a cryptic note inviting him to the scene of the crime. Little does he know he'll come to terms with his anger and grief - and the Holy Trinity.
This unusual book is part riveting drama and part familiar Christian philosophy. The parts about Mack's terrible childhood and the loss of his daughter are very well-written; edge-of-your-seat scary and grab-the-tissues sad. But they're only the bookends around the main part of the book which is a lengthy discourse on the nature of God and his relationship with Man, as explained by some folksy people who happen to be the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The problem I had is that the ethereal conversations between Mack and God were so drawn-out, tedious, and repetitive that I grew impatient for them to end and for the fictional story to resume. The same platitudes are repeated ad nauseum for 150 pages, told in an annoyingly homespun manner. It would have been better and more effective if this section had been massively reduced, because the endless droning could really be reduced to a simple, "God is Love."
The fiction part of the story about Mack's coming to terms with his past is excellent - taut and tear-jerkingly tragic; but the endless cutesy theology was tiresome for me. I do think this would make a good movie, though, and hope to see it one day. (3.5 stars)
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