THE SHACKJuly 22, 2008 1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although this was not the best-written novel I have ever read, it was a fine story.
The Shack is a rundown old cabin in the Oregon wilderness. During a camping trip with his three young children, Mackenzie Philips (Mack) loses his youngest daughter. The investigation and search for this little girl ends and she is presumed kidnapped and murdered by a known serial killer. During their search, they found grizzly evidence of her murder inside the shack. Four years later, Mack receives a peculiar note in his mailbox inviting him to visit the shack. The note is either a very sick joke or somehow written and delivered by God himself.
Other reviewers have noted that they picked up this book expecting a mystery/thriller of sort. That is what I expected as well. Turns out this is more of what I'd expect to find lining the shelves of a Christian bookstore. The dialog between God and Mack, reminded me of Neal Donald Walsh's, Conversations with God novels. The big (rather huge) difference being, Walsh's New Thought versus Young's Christianity.
William Young's ideas about the Holy Trinity, if nothing else, interested me enough to keep reading. Being an agnostic minded person, I found this novel neither distasteful nor luminously life changing. I read Conversations with God many years ago and found that material much more "knock your socks off" kind of new thinking. However, I can see where this particular novel might possibly put a very small, slight curve in the thought process of the otherwise hard-core, unbending, fire and brimstone religious type.
A life-changing book...I disagree with the othersJuly 21, 2008 1 out of 6 found this review helpful
The Shack is one of the best books I have ever read! It opens your eyes to enlightened understanding of God and forces us to examine why we believe the way we do, how much of what we believe is not biblical but myth, and amazingly helps us grasp just how awesome God is. The initial shock over how God the Father is personified quickly opened my mind and I no longer visualized God as a man on a throne but the wonderfully-complicated-beyond-comprehension deity that He is. The over-analyzing that has gone on in some of the reviews is mind boggling. The book accurately portrays God and the fact that LIVING in God with true faith is a far better teacher than any college seminary course. God does work in our lives when we open our hearts and reveals Himself in awesome ways. I encourage all people to read this book. It is life-changing!
Oh WOW!July 21, 2008 1 out of 7 found this review helpful
"Oh wow!", that's what I thought as I got into the meat of this book. God has changed me and shown me many things this last year and I was shocked to find all of it discussed in this book! If you feel drawn to read this book, go for it - it could lead you into the freedom Jesus died to give you. It's absolutely mind blowing and amazing - nothing short of God's true heart! I also recommend "Beyond Radical" by Gene Edwards.
ASUBELIEVEJuly 21, 2008 1 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is one of the most moving books for self-help that I have read in awhile. I could not put it down once I began reading. I was moved to examine my own thoughts, feelings and emotions as I read the story. It is truly remarkable about the ways God help us to know IT.
The ShackJuly 21, 2008 1 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is amazing, it will change your relationship with God in ways you can't even imagine.
