The Shack, Book Review Example

The Shack is a New York Times best-selling novel that has inspired many and proved controversial to some. The setting of the story is in the Pacific Northwestern United States and the main character is referred to as “Mack”. Mac faces a terrible tragedy. The canoe that his son was playing in tips over and now Mac must leave his daughter behind at the campsite in order to rescue his son. By the time Mac returns he notices that his daughter, Missy, is missing and discovers that she has been abducted by a serial killer. The police found the shack that Missy was killed in but were unable to find the body. Shortly after Mack discovers a note asking him to meet someone named “Papa” at the shack in which his daughter was killed. When he arrives at the shack it supernaturally transforms creating a lush, Eden-like environment. Mac has several intriguing conversations with “Papa” who is actually God the father represented as an African-American woman, Jesus who takes the appearance of the Middle Eastern carpenter, and the Holy Spirit who in the book appears as an Asian woman called Sarayu. Most of the book’s content revolves around the conversations that Mac has with the Trinity. When Mack goes to drive his car his mind is preoccupied and he gets in a terrible vehicle accident. When he awakens he finds that he did not actually spend the weekend in the shack, but rather his accident occurred on that exact same day that he supposedly went to the shack. Through the knowledge that he gained from his conversations with the Trinity, he is able to lead police to the shack, where they find Missy’s body. Through forensic science the serial killer is eventually arrested.

The Shack has been praised numerous times by those who are religious and even by those are not. “The Shack has fans, too. Young gets nearly 100 e-mails a day from readers saying they found solace and inspiration in his novel.” (Grossman, 2008) Despite its large fan base, the shack does receive quite a bit of controversy as well. Berit Kjos (2008), a critic of religious literature, writes “Unlike the true God, this false trinity exercises no authority over man. That should please today’s postmodern church leaders!”

Identify one example of loss mac endured on the camping trip?

On the camping trip Mac lost his daughter, Missy. However, when Mack lost his daughter he actually lost a whole lot more. He lost his sense of purpose, part of his desire to go on, and a major piece of his heart. Losing a child is perhaps the most tragic and devastating loss that any parent can endure. What made it even more devastating were all of the questions that surrounded the event. Questions such as “Why?” or “How could someone have done this?” must have plagued Mack’s mind.

Did the police pursue all available leads or do you feel they missed anything?

Police in real life often miss several things as they are usually overworked. The book mimics several of aspects of real-life and in the book it did seem like the police may have missed a few things. If they’d pursued all available leads, then they would have found the body before Mack revealed it’s location to them.

Were you anxious about mac going to the shack, do you think he could have considered not going to the shack as an option, if he did not go to the shack?

Several parts of the book induce anxiousness. The book is epic, in a sense. Mack’s overwhelming curiosity and his need for comfort are most likely what led him to go to the shack without hesitancy. It seemed as though he was willing to consider doing anything to figure out what really happened to his daughter. Had he not gone to the shack, it’s likely that God would have found other ways to pursue him.

People seem to want tangible beings/representations of a spiritual being, did the author use reasonable representations to make the point that there may be someone or something listening to people on earth?

The author makes it very clear that God is able to appear as anything he chooses to. The author made representations of the Trinity which were the most comfortable to him. This reinforces the belief that spiritual beings of the divine nature appear to people in the forms that make them the most comfortable.

Do you think Mack was dreaming or do you think time was being controlled by some greater being?

Though the story does make it sound like a dream, it’s very possible that time was actually stopped to allow the Mac to have the experience.

When Mack was given the choice to stay at the shack or return to his family at the end of the weekend, did you agree with the choice he made? What do you believe that choice represented?

It would seem as though Mac make the correct choice by going to the shack and not returning to his family at the end of the weekend. The choice represented an insatiable curiosity that needed to be satisfied and the will of God to put all of Mack’s questions to rest once and for all.

Explain, in your own words, one paragraph pre term, what the following terms mean to you, respond to 3 to 5 terms: trust, respect, compassion, lonely, death.

Trust is the ability to leave important decisions in the hands of someone else with the hope that they will fulfill them in the correct way. Trust can be earned and trust can be taken away. It is easier to lose trust than it is to gain it.

Compassion is the ability to care for another human being as one would care for themselves. Those who are compassionate are also highly empathic. Compassion is very necessary for the human soul.

Death is the ending of one phase in order to begin another. When plants wither, their leaves fall to the ground and nourish the soil in order to create new plants. When people die they only anscend to a different realm. Therefore death is not the end of one’s existence; but rather, the transitioning of one’s soul to a higher plane.

Works Cited

Grossman, Cathy Lynn . “‘Shack’ opens doors, but critics call book ‘scripturally incorrect’ -USATODAY.com.” News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World – usatoday.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-05-28-the-shack_N.htm>.

Kjos, Berit . “Deceived by a counterfeit “Jesus” – The twisted “truths” of The Shack & A   Course in Miracles.” Crossroad. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. <http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/shack.htm>.

Young, William P.. The Shack Paperback. 1ST ed. Grand Rapids: Windblown Media, 2008. Print.