It gets a hold of you and doesn’t let you go until the very end. I found myself crying, smiling, nodding my head, and connecting with this book in so many unexpected ways that I was surprised. Despite the book being so full of thought-provoking content, the language helped me to move through it as I would any other book. The language was captivating and the imagery, rich. Suffice it to say that Mack asks all the questions (all the ones you’ve ever had about love and loss and pain and forgiveness) and gets some pretty deep (and mind-mushing) answers. For me to clinically attempt to explain what transpires next could not possibly do The Shack justice. Despite his obvious shock and fear, he goes to confront his past and to meet “God.” Written within the framework of a dream (he falls asleep and wakes up), Mack does indeed meet God, all three in fact – the father (Papa as a black woman), the son (Jesus as a Middle Eastern man) and the holy spirit (Sarayu as an Asian woman). Two years later he receives a note in the mail from his long dead father to meet him at the shack, and it’s signed “Papa,” his wife’s name for God. She is killed at a place nicknamed “the shack” in the wilderness. In summary, The Shack is the story of a man, Mack, abused by his father as a child, who loses his 6 year old daughter during a camping trip to a serial killer. Many of the concepts discussed were ones that I agree with fundamentally. What struck me about The Shack was that it’s just one man’s story and how he deals with the tragedy in his own life, yet at no point did I feel like I was being preached to. I grew up in a multi-religious household, and have always been open to all beliefs. However, I am a spiritual person and I do have what I believe is a very personal relationship with God. Let me preface this by saying I am not a religious person.

I was so completely moved by this book that I couldn’t not offer it a few lines of mention on this blog. It is fiction, although could very easily be based on anyone’s all-too-real truth.

It’s not young adult, although its appeal could be a generation spanner. It’s not fantasy, although some would believe that it is. My review of The Shack is a complete breakaway from the core material of this site. Books, Writing Book Review: The Shack by William P.

The shack book william p young