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The Shack - William Paul Young


Janet

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This sounds like an interesting read, at the very least worth a look. Even those who do have faith question it sometimes and ask questions about life. This sounds like either a book that doesn't speak to people very well, or a book that speaks to people in different ways and may depend on ones experiences.

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I'm on page 100 or so and I love it! There are a few little things about Mr. Young's theology that seem a little more what HE thinks than what's in the Bible. That said, though, the story is so sweet, and I hope I remember its lessons about suffering for as long as I live. Young has a style that's pretty easy to follow, too.

 

Edit 12/03/08: I finished it on Sunday the 30th. The second half left me a little wanting since it had much more dialogue than action, but there are still quite a few lessons I hope I remember my whole life. I do not think it merited all the giving-away-boxes-of-books hype that it generated. In what other book, though, does one find something that teaches you so much about the character of God when you hurt, that isn't so unreachable? I appreciated Mr. Young's obviously toilsome efforts to convey his answers to "Why does God allow us to suffer like this?" in so simple and direct a way that you only have to read a paragraph once or twice to understand.

Edited by Child.of.God.1989
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, I read The Shack this week and was left feeling really disappointed. I enjoyed the beginning of the book and was sucked into the story fairly quickly but once Mack got to the shack it went rapidly down hill from there, its like the author abandoned the story telling and just launched into a cermone.I wouldn't mind so much if during the preaching something was happening narrative wise, but no the story just stoped still!

As it a rather short book I struggled on to the end. Its a shame because the author can tell a great story when he's not preaching.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here is my review, hope you don't mind Janet

 

the-shack.jpg

Synopsis from Amazon:

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 judgement 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!

 

Well, what a brave thing to do, and a very unique way of portraying the Gospel message. This is a deep book, which I think I'm going to have to read again.

The story follows Mack, who experiences a horrendous event in his life when his daughter is abducted, presumed murdered. With sadness and guilt all around, Mack struggles through life, wondering about God and His role to play in all this. When Mack heads back to the shack he has a truely amazing experience with God, and he receives many answers from God.

Well, I loved it. I was gripped right from the start. I loved how God was portrayed and the way the Christian message is written. I thought there were a lot of unexpected answers to these seemingly impossible questions, such as "where is God in suffering"? But Young addresses these questions and gives very clear answers.

I guess the only problem was there is so much to take in, but I am looking forward to reading it again. This book has made me want to enter a deeper relationship with God.

I think people will find this book completely unrealistic and not be satisfied with God or the answers Young gives in this book, and that is a shame. I think people need to read this book with an open mind and think about what has been written before forming an opinion on the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, what a good read.

10/10

 

 

and in response to cosychair, I think the narrative is God speaking and the preaching, as a lot of the book focuses on Mack's struggle to find God, even before the disappearance of Missy. It is all about self discovery and the discovery of God

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  • 1 year later...

I had never heard of this book until my dad gave it to me the other day; he and my mother had both loved it and thought I would find it interesting. Reading reviews on Amazon and BCF had made me a bit wary of it, and I didn't really enjoy the first part of the book much. But once Mack reached the shack, I very quickly came to enjoy it - my parents thought my 15 year old might enjoy it as well, and I will be recommending him to try it (he doesn't do much reading, though, so I'm not sure whether he will). I'm sure I will read it again some time, too. :friends0:

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  • 2 months later...

I bought and read this book last year because I had heard so much about it and pretty much wanted to read the book that apparently converted a bunch of non-believers.

 

I did find it interesting because I was also studying Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' at the same time, and both Nietzsche and Young discuss the idea of will to power, but inherently backed opposite ends of that spectrum (Nietzsche: take full responsibility for yourself and dismiss all other influence in your personal development, Young: reject will to power in order to return to God) so I found it quite interesting in a comparative regard. It goes without saying which side I agree with, so I'm not posting my actual review of the book here because it's largely negative.

 

One thing I HATED about this book was the shameless plea for reader promotion at the back of it. Buy several copies of the book and give them out to people? Nah, I'm good, thanks!

 

It is very nicely written though in fairness, so it's very easy to read.

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For me, being already familiar in many of the concepts contained within the book, it didn't say an awful lot that was new - but having said this, different people relate to such ideas in different ways, so although there are other books out there (Conversations with God for example) that touch upon the subject matter, not everyone would be able to relate to it in the same way. The information therefore needs to be presented in different ways and different packages that different types of people can relate to. Personally I relate better to the CWG books, as this was a little too American for me in its presentation. If it helps people though, it's all good ...

 

I would make an interesting film I think.

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I could never get into this. I picked it up after hearing a lot of good things about it. I think it's a book you are going to love or hate. I am kind of ashamed to say I still havn't finished it. I found it weary and it seemed to really drag out. After reading some things on here I have to say I probably wont finish it at all. I personally don't see how it could convert anyone. I would love to speak to someone who had been converted through this book though and see how they found it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

like alot of people here I found it a bit too preachy and I'm a christian too! its a pity because it had potential, like the left behind series. I liked the left behind series too but found that way too preachy and badly written but the story itself was utterly fascinating

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