From House of Pain to the Loveshack (The Shack - William P. Young)

Member Name: tommy7

Product:	The Shack - William P. Young
Date:	25/06/09 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very moving and intelligent read

Disadvantages: None, once you get over the shack's inhabitants

'The Shack' by William Paul Young appeared on one of my Amazon lists and immediately caught my attention. I tend to consider most books where the star rating is four or above and this one was sitting at four. What really got my curiosity up though was the split of the ratings. Of the 259 people to have reviewed it 58% had given it full marks with 20% giving it the minimum mark. Books which are based on religion tend to polarise people but even still I thought that this was worth a try with so many people giving it full marks.

I can't really sum the story up any better than the back of the book does itself so here is some of the text from it

'Mackenzie Allen Philip's 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 the 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.'

I have never read a book like this before and doubt I will read another like it. The premise is excellent. A man who has lost a child in the worst circumstances imaginable will come face to face with God and demand the answers that he feels he is due.

The story is a short one at 248 pages but it is by no means an easy read. The text is fairly small so it is probably the equivalent of 300+ pages in standard paperback size. The story starts off in a gentle enough way. Its four years on from the incident involving Missy's disappearance and we are given a picture of Mack's life. His Great Sadness still dominating him and that event still hangs heavy over his entire family. The story then takes you back to what happened on the days leading up to the horrific event. Then we are told what actually happened and the investigation which followed. All of this is done very tastefully and there are large elements that you do not know. In fact as the reader you are in the same position as Mack. You are only given the facts he is aware of. Namely, his daughter is missing, a child serial killer has left a calling card known only to the police, and his daughter's blood soaked dress has been found at the Shack.

Mack receives a note claiming to be from Papa (his families name for God), inviting him back to the Shack. He knows there are only three possibilities. One, it's from the killer looking to inflict further pain on the family. Two, it's a sick joke from someone who is aware of what happened. Three, it is actually from God. Perhaps Mack is too quick to assume it is from God, in our lives we would probably stop at two possibilities but he is a man of strong faith and sets off to what he hopes will be his meeting with God. I was impressed with how well rounded the character of Mack was. A lot of detail is given into his thoughts, feelings and actions. Aside from the assumption about it being from God I felt he was a very believable character and acted in a way I could see a lot of people doing.

The main part of the book is obviously when Mack returns to the Shack. The description of how he feels, returning to the last place on earth he wants to be, is excellent and is typical of how well written this entire book is.

Once Mack gets there and meets God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit he spends the weekend with them in their human forms. This is the real point of the book and is magnificent. The questions Mack asks, the way he responds and acts is exactly how you could imagine being in such an unfathomable position (if that isn't a contradiction!). What really surprised me though was the clarity of answers provided by the author. They were quite simply stunning and everything fell together almost perfectly. It would be easy to say that the author can manipulate situations to suit but he was dealing with some heavy subjects here. Also, anyone who has a basic knowledge of the bible will be able to relate to some, if not all of the answers and see how they fit into a bigger picture.

There are many other thought provoking parts to the book as well. When asked how much of his life Mack lives in the past, the present and the future he responds, like most of us, that very little is spent in the present. Quite a sad realisation but further evidence that the thoughts to take from this book are not all religious.

It is quite easy to get caught up in Mack's time at the shack as being a time of wonderment and amazement causing you to lose sight of what brought him there in the first place. In fact, you get the sense that this happens to Mack at times as well.

As a reader you go through the whole journey with Mack, from feeling his despair at the begging right through to matching his feelings at the end, this book really affects you.

The ending of the book was terrific. So much is given to the reader in the final few pages. Again, it is obvious a lot of thought has been put into the ending and it fits in with the 'real' world a lot more than I feared it might.

This is a magnificent book and I would urge you to read it. Whatever your thoughts are on God there is so much to take from this book and I intend to re-read it again in future as there are so many message which are relevant.

Further details on this book can be found at www.theshackbook.com. It is currently available for £3.99 on Amazon and is at number 13 on Amazon's best selling books list.

ISBN 978-0-340-97949-5

Summary: Magnificent