The Shack - by William P. Young
I’ve recently finished reading William P. Young’s novel, “The Shack.” We first heard about it through the grapevine… which turns out to be the way the book is being marketed… mostly via grassroots and word-of-mouth methods. I guess it is working because it is now a best-seller and there is talk of a movie. Not bad for an unknown, first-time author who had to self-publish because he couldn’t get any publishers to take the book.
Next, I started seeing reviews and comments about the book in various publications, blogs and websites that I frequent. At first, the reviews looked to be pretty negative (See CT’s Out of UR blog). They seemed to center around charges of misrepresenting the Christian concept of the Trinity, or one or more of the Persons in the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). There were some other criticisms that the book is anti-church, or is part of the “emergent” movement.
I love novels. I have been reading them since I was a kid. I love all kinds of fiction. I think this is because I love a good story, with a plot, good characters and tension, mystery, drama and conflict. My favorite novelists are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen Lawhead. It doesn’t get any better than these.
So, how does The Shack stack up to these greats? Well, it’s not going to be a classic (Sorry Eugene Petersen). Yet, the story did draw me in, and held my interest. Along the way I felt the elements I like in a novel… tension, conflict, drama, resolution. I met interesting characters and felt like I was getting to know a real person. Overall, I’d have to say it was a pretty good read which I enjoyed reading and would recommend to any lover of fiction.
Notice, I said… fiction. This book is not a theological treatise. It is not an apologetic for a particular brand or movement of Christianity any more than The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, or The Hobbit is. It is simply a modern day parable… not an alegory as some have suggested. I believe it reveals the authors process of healing in the form of a story. Along the way, we are challenged to rethink or reexamine some of our concepts of God and his relationship to us as humans. That’s all it is, and it is good to have our concepts challenged from time to time.
Added on AUG 24, 2008: My father sent me this link to a blog post and review of this book by Diane Eble. It includes an audio interview with the author William “Paul Young,” that I found to be quite revealing and enlightening regarding the context for his writing this book. Thanks, Dad!
A friend of mine who had the opportunity to meet the author of The Shack gave me a copy a few months ago and I read it.
Although I wouldn’t rate the book highly from a literary point of view I found the story compelling and read it all in one go. I love stories (I think most people do)
Two aspects of the portrayal of God in the book struck me in particular as very powerful:
1) God is a fun person to be around – like those people we gravitate towards because we always feel better when we’re around them
2) God takes particular care to connect with Mack in a way which Mack can handle, showing how much God cares about Mack as an individual. Of course the repeated phrase of God’s “I’m especially fond of you” also brings that out – even though it later transpires that God is “especially fond” of other people too.
I think you’re right that this is an allegory of healing the author has been through himself.
The huge response to the book makes me think the author has brought out some aspects of God which people aren’t picking up so clearly in other places. I think a good question for the church to ask about the book is “What can we learn from the huge impact this book is having? Is there something about God people are getting from this book which we could be conveying better?”
I understand Christians commenting on The Shack wanting to be clear whether they consider the book to be accurate from a doctrinal point of view, but I doubt people who read it are regarding it as a doctrine primer. I think it’s more likely that it’s connecting with people powerfully on an emotional level as they read over and over again that God is “especially fond of them”.