It's so simple, I'm sure many will miss it. And that, I believe, is the whole point. God's watching, waiting, and smiling. Pick up a copy, read it, and open your heart to the true message of God You will be changed forever if you do. In case you can't read it, the tagline on this is "Where tragedy confronts eternity.
The serial killer, a man who leaves a ladybug pin everytime he kills a child, was never captured, and the only clue to Missy's abduction was an undeniable, bloodstained red sundress on the floor of an abandoned shack high up in the middle of nowhere. Now, four years after Missy's murder, h In case you can't read it, the tagline on this is "Where tragedy confronts eternity.
Now, four years after Missy's murder, her father receives a letter in his mailbox -- from God -- inviting him back to the scene of the crime, a return to The Shack where the trail of evidence ended. Mack, who has been living under what he quietly calls The Great Sadness for the past four years, is enraged. What kind of sick prank is this? The letter is either from Missy's killer, who could be luring Mack away from his remaining four children so he can strike again, or it is really Fearing to be thought crazed with unresolved grief, Mack packs his Jeep with a gun and his daughter's picture, and heads back up to The Shack: where tragedy confronts eternity.
God is waiting for Mack. But it's not the God of Mack's parents or even the God of his church. This is a God who delights in nothing so much as standing conventions and preconceived notions on their heads and messing with his children's hearts. This is a God who stands in the kitchen stirring cake batter and telling Mack, "The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can preceive, which often isn't much, and then call that God.
And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I'm not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think. Now because I would not be a good book reviewer if I failed to address the nuts and bolts of this book, I'll do my job now: William P. Young, this book's author, is a virutal unknown. The book was published by Windblown Media, also an unknown.
The language in the book is coarse, not in the sense that it is foul, but in the sense that an inexperienced author is trying to emulate the colloquialsms of African-American dialect and at times utterly forgets that he is supposed to be doing this, falling back easily into Standard American English. Because of this, the book lacks a certain cohesion. There are also misplaced modifiers that an experienced editor would have caught and fixed before sending the manuscript to the printer.
One can only hope that future printings of this will see these minor errors accounted for and fixed And now here is the hope: when my best friend from high school first gave me a copy of this book and begged me to read it, I groaned inwardly. It was printed on 50 bright white offset a very cheap paper. It was run cross-grain, making it very difficult to open a very cheap way to print. And it was published by a virtually unknown publishing house.
Because of these strikes, it sat on the floor of my closet for quite sometime. Eventually, feeling I owed it to Laura to read the book, I picked it up and began I got so caught up in the story that it took me some time to notice a change in The Shack. No more was it printed on cheap paper.
No more was it difficult to pry open. It was now featured as a 6x9 book this means it is running correct-grain, which is a much more expensive way to print a book on 50 Cougar Natural Vellum a much more expensive paper.
Additionally, the tagline of "Where tragedy confronts eternity" was replaced with this: 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.
That's quite a change in 2 months. To sum up my review: This book has the power to make all human artifice utterly fall away Posted by Nom de plume at AM View all 6 comments. I had to read this for book club and I did not like it. Bad theology wrapped up in a sappy soap opera type book. What Bible is the author reading? What about St. Paul telling us to be imitato I had to read this for book club and I did not like it. Paul telling us to be imitators of Christ. Is that really the reason for Christ's death on the cross?
It's also pretty obvious the author has trouble with authority of any kind, but most especially Church authority. It just made me wonder who has hurt him so deeply that he just throws out the baby with the bathwater.
That is just a snippet of what is so terribly wrong with this book. Instead get Athanasius' On the Incarnation or St. Irenaeus' Against Heresies or any other Church Father and dig deep into the well of Christian writings that have stood the test of time.
View all 4 comments. I read this years ago -during the hype. People were raving about it. It was a number 1 best selling book. Yet, its a 'least' favorite for me. Its funny how we come across an old book we have read. We meet a new member on Goodreads --and before you know it, memories return while reading their reviews. Why people were so turned on about this book --I'll never understand. Shelves: spirituality. When reading The Shack, be prepared some laughs and smiles, but mostly, be prepared for a well of tears.
I'm a movie and book crier by nature. I'll admit that my wife and daughter give me the raised eyebrow and look at me strangely when I choke up while watching a sitcom and all I can do is sheepishly say, "Did you see how she helped that lady" or something like that. Well, be warned, if you also have a weakness for tears or if you are a father, the tears will hit you like a flood. This book is a When reading The Shack, be prepared some laughs and smiles, but mostly, be prepared for a well of tears.
This book is a story of God sharing his heart with a broken man. The first section of the book will hit you in the chest, as it describes what the author calls "The Great Sadness" of the novels protagonist. I'm a lover of well written novels and it was well over a decade ago that I decided there were way too many books being published every year, not to mention the thousands and thousands of good books previously written, to spend time reading a poorly written one.
This book is an exception to that rule. It isn't the writing that kept me going, it was the content. I don't know the authors story, but the jacket says that "he suffered a great loss as a child and young adult". The best books are those written about what an author knows - either researched or experienced.
This is what you will find in The Shack. The author has wrapped a story around what he feels passionate about. I won't give away the story or the message, but I will say that is resonated strongly with me. At the core it is about God's unfailing love for his children. His desire to draw every one of his children to him. How this love transcends our hurts and tragedies.
How he ususes even the worst situations as avenues of redemption. I didn't read The Shack with my theologian hat on. I didn't critique every line to evaluate how it stood up to my interpretation of systematic or historical theology.
This is not a book of theology - I read it as a man sharing his heart and what he has learned on his journey - putting it in a fictional format. It is his journey and heart that resonated with me. Read The Shack - not for its literary prowness or theological intellectualism - but to be moved and challenged in your thinking of God.
I'll end with a brief sample to taste your appetite. This is Jesus conversing with the main character, Mack; "Our is earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her.
Humans, who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her with no consideration other then their immediate needs. And they give little thought for their own children who will inherit their lack of love. So they use her and abuse her with little consideration and then when she shudders or blows her breath, they are offended and raise their fist at God.
You must care deeply about the Creation," smiled Mack. A book that seems to inspire strong emotions - people seem to either love it or hate it. I am a little surprised to see so many people who did not like the book. One reviewer maybe explained the wide disparity in the need to seperate the work of fiction itself with theology. Perhaps many people are put off by the imaginitive take on Biblical ideals. As a work of fiction, I found it original and thought provoking.
Theologically, it was ungrounded, yet working as an abstract parable, it illustrates A book that seems to inspire strong emotions - people seem to either love it or hate it. Theologically, it was ungrounded, yet working as an abstract parable, it illustrates God's uncompromising ability to love. View all 7 comments. I really enjoyed The Shack!
I found it provided hope and gave answers to a lot of very dark and difficult questions. It's a book whose enjoyment will vary massively depending on your views toward faith and Christianity if any - I have relatives who are Christian and went to a Church of England Secondary School so it was something I was brought up around - which may be why I don't have such serious angry thoughts towards this book as I've seen other reviewers have. It follows Mack - whose young d I really enjoyed The Shack!
It follows Mack - whose young daughter Missy is abducted during a family camping trip and is later found murdered in a shack in the woods. Years later, struggling with his grief, Mack decides to return to the shack, as if it would help him at all. There he discovers God - but not as you would usually picture him!
As I said it tackles some really tricky areas - and the question that I'm sure nearly everyone has asked. Where is God when awful things happen and how are we ever supposed to come back from such unspeakable pain? I liked it, it spoke to me and had a real impact - but I can easily understand why some may find it hard to stomach - one of the joys of the human race is that we are all different, so we can't all be affected by the same things.
View all 3 comments. I'm not really sure why this book is so well liked. For me, it was just okay. I did enjoy the beginning of the book but when the main character meets "God" it became quite ridiculous and I had to force myself to finish it! It was just plain silly. If you like your spirituality like a boxed dinner just add meat! Divine intervention comes by way of an invitation to the place where his little girl breathed her last.
Masochism, curiosity, and a longing for answers and closure compels him to go alone to the spot. God appears, taking three forms: 1. Big black Momma God "Sho If you like your spirituality like a boxed dinner just add meat! Big black Momma God "Sho 'nuff", "True 'dat" 2.
Jesus, the granola carpenter 3. The voice telling the story is not the main character and may very likely sound like 1. Peter Falk, from the Princess Bride 2. How it drags! This novel seems to be aimed at overturning primarily fundamentalist misconceptions about God and emphasizing that God IS Love. And although that is a noble and important goal, I find the novel itself to be overly didactic, with too many long explanations of too many things all placed directly in the mouth of God Himself which seems to me a bit presumptuous.
Things are very often better explained and understood in story than in definition, and that is why I usually tend not to like didactic This novel seems to be aimed at overturning primarily fundamentalist misconceptions about God and emphasizing that God IS Love.
Things are very often better explained and understood in story than in definition, and that is why I usually tend not to like didactic novels: they ruin a perfectly good story with an explanation. He tries to depict God as love, but ends up drawing instead a sentimental human relationship. He tries to establish some kind of theodicy, but at times, the Trinity almost seems to be playing the role of Job's comforters. He tries to explain the Trinity, addressing in a facile and confident manner a great mystery with which the greatest minds have wrestled for centuries.
I am reminded of a quote by Rumi: "Some commentary clarifies, but with love silence is clearer. If you want to expound on love, take your intellect out and let it lie down in the mud. It's no help. I loved The Brothers Karamazov and many of the novels of C. Lewis, which are clearly aimed at discussing and conveying theological arguments.
Here, however, the writing itself is somewhat banal. The dialogue is silly how many times did Mack say, "Whoa! Like, whoa!
I never saw God like that man! The characters are undeveloped, except for Mack. There were some standout observations and one moving scene the "judgment" , and the author did an important job of emphasizing that Christ did not come to establish a religion but a relationship. However, on the whole, it just wasn't, in my personal opinion, a very good book.
And what little I got of a story sometimes sounded like something told by a youth pastor trying to relate to the kids on their presumably simplistic level and only succeeding in coming across as a little goofy. So much of what plagues modern popular Christian fiction didacticism, lack of subtlety, undeveloped characters, telling not showing, over-obvious foreshadowing, drawing conclusions for the reader, even the obtrusive, attempt-to-be-hip pop culture references plagued this book.
I have known many who have loved and recommended this book to me, but I fear I just cannot step up onto the bandwagon with this one. Though I agree God is love and that Jesus will travel any road to find us, I really disliked his portrayal of the Trinity.
There was something condescending in his constant attempts to overcome religious stereotypes: first, the assumption that most Christians have those stereotypes to begin with and because I don't the "correction" of my "stereotypes" about God irked me , and, secondly, that he replaced those religious stereotypes with ethnic stereotypes: the grammatically incorrect Aunt Jemimahesque African-American woman, the whispy Asian, and the big-nosed Jew.
Yes, really, he goes there. He means to do it lightly as a joke, and perhaps even a joke on stereotypes, but it really does not work at all. No, I'm not under the impression that God actually has gender or that Jesus was a white, long-haired, blue eyed Anglo-Saxon. But thanks for setting me straight with your multicultural trinity of cardboard cutouts.
Ultimately, my problem is that Young's God is not much to be in awe of. And also, I kind of like religious ritual and don't think it's part of the trinity of terror or however he phrased that. Politics, religion what was the third awful thing? Order is not an inherently bad thing. Jesus is not systematically opposed to order. I give it the second star because it clearly has touched so many people, so obviously the flaws that prevented me from really appreciating it are not an impediment to its central message for most readers.
And its message that God is love is something that needs to touch people. View all 16 comments. I felt like I was in Church as a kid with a older pastor telling me what to believe without allowing questioning or allowance of my own personal journey. Readers also enjoyed. Videos About This Book. More videos Christian Fiction. Adult Fiction. About William Paul Young. William Paul Young. Paul Young is a Canadian author. Young was the oldest of four. He spend the majority of his first decade with his missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlands New Guinea West Papua , among the Dani, a tribal people.
When he was six he was sent to a boarding school. The manuscript, that later became The Shack , was intended only for his six kids and for a handful of close friends. After mu Wm. After multiple rejections by publishers, Young and his friends published the book under the name of their newly created publishing company.
The Shack was one of the top-selling fiction books of and will be a major motion picture in Spring Young lives in Happy Valley, Oregon with his wife and has six children and several grandchildren. Books by William Paul Young. Related Articles. Interview with Wm. Paul Young. A source of inspiration and controversy, his first novel, The Shack, was a Christian fiction phenomenon. Now Young revisits the Garden of Eden in Read more Trivia About The Shack. Quotes from The Shack.
It is about letting go of another person's throat Forgiveness does not create a relationship. By: William P. Wishlist Wishlist. Advanced Search Links. Add To Cart. Hardcover Book. Spanish eBook. Imitation Leather Book Anniversary Edition. Paperback Spanish Book Movie Edition. Wishlist Wishlist. Advanced Search Links. Add To Cart. Cross Roads. The Shack - eBook. BoneMan's Daughters - eBook. Like Dandelion Dust - eBook. The main characters of this fiction, christian fiction story are ,.
The book has been awarded with , and many others. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator. We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you.
0コメント