The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by Wm. Paul YoungMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This story was really hard for me to read having two young girls of my own. I think this is more allegory than the typical Christian fiction. The scenes at the shack remind me of Passport to Life City—a modern version of Pilgrim's Progress.
Mack took his kids on a camping trip while his wife was away over a holiday weekend. On the last day as Mack was packing up to head home, two of his children asked to take one last canoe ride. With many cautions including the promise of life jackets, he allowed them while the youngest sat at a nearby picnic table coloring. When one child waved from the canoe, it tipped, Mack dove in to save his children; while in the commotion the youngest was kidnapped.
A few years later Mack returns to the shack—the site of the last evidence of his daughter Missy. While there he encounters God. The main concern I've heard and read is that God is depicted as a black woman—yest young explains this depiction to my satisfaction. In some ways it reminded me of the movie Contact.
I'm not sure what to think of the discussion on responsibilities and expectations. Personally I felt the Festival of Friends was unnecessary and too speculative. Then the way the rest of the story was wrapped up was too tidy for me.
All in all, the conversations at the shack were interesting and did cause me to think. I really had to consider various religious traditions and what is truly Biblically sound.
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