Read The Shack by William P. Young

This is a neat book. There are lots of reasons why I should have disliked it, but I truly enjoyed it, found myself thinking about it between readings.

At first glance, it's the kind of book my mother would have gotten me for Christmas or something: a religious allegory of sorts with a very heavy Christian hand. It's immensely popular, even though it's written by an author few had heard of and published by a tiny press. In fact, I bought it for Mom shortly before she died.

Don't stop at the first glance. The story takes you to a very dark place, and it treats the darkness and pain of it with respect. It also treats the reader with respect. The author has taken much care to neither overlook nor over-indulge in the horror of it.

In essence, the story follows a man named Mack whose family undergoes a terrible tragedy, plunging him into what he calls The Great Sadness. It is in this despair that he receives a note inviting him to visit the very abandoned shack that formed the center of his waking nightmare, an invitation from God.

Now, it's no surprise that he meets God there, but the images of the Trinity we are shown are very different from the Old Man in the White Robe. And that's a very good thing.

This is a Christian fantasy, but one with very good theology, a very good understanding of who the Bible says God the Father, God the Son, and Got the Holy Spirit are. There is no sign of the God who holds most of humanity in contempt, only reluctantly offering salvation to those who learn the magic phrase "I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior." This is a God who is Love, who can't abide shame and self-righteousness, who is nothing if not patience. This is a God who does not make little of the horror of evil, but demonstrates victory over it anyway. This is the kind of god, the kind of trinitarian god, people might actually want to spend eternity with.

Now, this book is very magical, or maybe the right word is "mystical," but, much like another of my favorite books, Yann Martel's The Life of Pi, the reader
has an escape hatch if she or he needs it. There's a way to look at the story as if nothing mystical/magical had ever happened. I think this is important, because this is the way things actually work.

There are problems with the book, from my point of view. I think Young's writing is adequate, but not engrossing, and I think the story drags sometimes. I don't agree with every theological statement he makes. I sympathized with Mack, but never empathized with him.

So this isn't a perfect book. I've never read a perfect book. This is an amazing book that will stick with you for a very long time.