While away on vacation, I twittered that I was reading
The Shack, by William P. Young. Since that simple Twitter, friends and colleagues have sent me a ton of opinion-filled emails and links about this novel. For those of you who have never heard of the book, it is creating a highly charged dialogue between all sorts of folks – from fundamentalist Christians to transgender groups (that’d be quite a party, wouldn’t it? I’d LOVE an invite).
One old college friend, whose opinions are very different from mine, but has tremendous influence on my thinking nonetheless (has something to do with
mutual grace), suggested I do a book review on my blog. I have never done such a thing, so here goes:
Oh, wait, I guess before I officially start, I should give a SPOILER ALERT. If you haven’t read
The Shack, I
highly recommend that you stop reading this blog and buy it. I mean it, stop reading this instant. The book deserves your unblemished attention.
Okay, I’m ready.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE SHACK (ahem).
By Wendy W. Melchior (I really want to rescue the poor “W” as a middle initial. Dear thing is so maligned these days… Perhaps in late January I’ll have more success).
The Shack by William P. Young is an interesting book by an author who is better described as a wonderful theologian than as a wonderful fiction writer, and yet his attempt at combining the two has real merit and is worth the time, and thinking, it requires.
Main character, Mack, is a man haunted by tragedy. Young describes the “great sadness” that has descended on Mack’s heart after being raised by a violent father and the later abduction and murder of his own young daughter, Missy, by a serial child killer. In many ways, Mack is in a more frightening place than the understandable “angry with God” spot. He has spiraled to numbness, a good man who is choosing not to feel his life.
In the middle of an ice storm, Mack receives a note from God in the mail. His name, but no address, is typed across the front, and God invites Mack to spend the weekend with Him at the very shack where Missy was killed. The visit that follows is unforgettable.
I had really mixed feelings about The Shack, but not for the reasons you may guess. The Shack is a work of pure fiction, quite interesting fiction, but it is not a great work of literature. Sometimes the dialogue seemed canned and familiar, even awkwardly written, but thankfully the writing itself isn’t even close to the point of this fascinating book.
While reading, I was forced to realize that I have no real grasp of how much God loves me. It was overwhelming, really. God really loves me. I found myself wishing that I consistently lived like I believe it. Critics have called Young’s idea that God would meet with a man for the weekend crazy, but when you consider the great lengths that Christ has already gone to meet us – why is a weekend retreat so hard to allow in a work of fiction?
Unlike some others, I do not take issue with the liberties that Young took in portraying God as a large African American woman. Frankly, I am more concerned that Young’s portrayal of the African American woman was somewhat stereotypical. I half expected my bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup to start quoting scripture this morning. Whereas some think that Young went way out of the box here, I found that he stayed disappointingly within it. If you’re going to freak people out anyway, why not include the idea that God seems to always challenge our preconceived ideas and stereotypes?
I have read critics claiming that Young suggests that there are multiple avenues to God. He never even comes close to saying such a thing. The author does infer that people, who pursue world religions other than Christianity, are revealing their searches for God. I happen to agree wholeheartedly. Let’s get rid of “us and them” language. It’s really just us, and if God was willing to walk the crazy roads He walked to find me, I suspect He is willing to meet people in the midst of other religions in order to bring them to His Son.
The Shack was a very emotional experience for me. It forced me to consider all the things that I allow to keep me from fully relating to God. Young so beautifully expresses the relational nature of God, that after I read a chapter or two, I would head out to the ocean with my boogie board and talk to Him on the waves about what I was being asked to think about.
I highly recommend The Shack. Have at it.
Any other readers of The Shack have thoughts?
