BOOKS: The Shack by William B. Young

  • Thread starter Thread starter deeder33
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I think my first post gave some people the wrong idea. I am not fighting to put this book on Catholic shelves at all. In fact I am totally with you on that point. I have just been reading lots of posts on here and read lots of closed minded and even offending responses and I just felt that someone should remind everyone what we are here for. I believe that you are right as far as digging for the pearls in the “contaminated estuary” (as one of my teachers used to say) but do you not agree with me that this book is a great way to remind those who maybe are in a bad place right now or just needed that “little warm fuzzy” that God is about love. I know I’m walking a fine line here and I am starting to lose my direction with where I was going 😊 so I will sum up what I believe I wanted to say. I think this book is a beautiful way to open conversations and relationships with people and then it is our job to point out to them the truths and the wrongs of the book. I just can’t help but think about Jesus and how he used all sorts of mediums to get his message through to people and I feel like to just get offended and turn out back is to allow the falsehoods of this book to conquer any good that we Catholics could pull out of it. Hope I made some sense.
God Bless
 
Avood said:
I think this book is a beautiful way to open conversations and relationships with people and then it is our job to point out to them the truths and the wrongs of the book. I just can’t help but think about Jesus and how he used all sorts of mediums to get his message through to people and I feel like to just get offended and turn out back is to allow the falsehoods of this book to conquer any good that we Catholics could pull out of it. Hope I made some sense.
God Bless
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree about using the opportunity this book provides (if someone has already read it) to help people think more clearly about both what they believe AND the fact that God “is very fond” of them. Sometimes I forget that people are in pain. To me, it is the tragedy of this book that it has such a precious message mixed in with so much subtle danger.

I would never ban a book. If someone has read it, I would discuss it as respectfully as I could, especially if they had found it moving. I try to remember that Jesus wouldn’t “break a bruised reed or put out a smoldering wick” - and indeed, God can use anything to reveal Himself - we shouldn’t uproot the seeds of faith, no matter who plants them!

That said, I still would have trouble recommending the book to someone unless I knew that we would have opportunity to discuss it and they would be open to talking about the anti-Catholic and other “contaminated” parts.

I think I’ll start a new thread and ask people to recommend good books that reveal God’s love for us - for example, The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nowen.
henrinouwen.org/
 
I have not read the book, nor do I plan to, but I have had several friends who are Catholics who have read it, and they were not impressed, a couple of them said it was anti-Catholic to them, there are just too many good Catholic books out there for me to read this one.
 
If anyone has a favorite magazine or website for book reviews, I’d appreciate any ideas. In the process of looking for a publisher for a critical review of this tale. Thanks!
 
Writer said:
If anyone has a favorite magazine or website for book reviews, I’d appreciate any ideas. In the process of looking for a publisher for a critical review of this tale. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Gosh, Writer…I’m not sure if you mean that you have written a critcal review of The Shack and are looking to place the review in a magazine or if you are looking for someone to do a critical review of your children’s books.

If you are talking about a critical review of The Shack that you’ve written…

…other than This Rock, you might try Envoy. I believe Crisis magazine is now online only.

Why not try to give us a whack at it and put your review right here? 😉 We can critique your review! 👍
 
ATL_Granny said:
Gosh, Writer…I’m not sure if you mean that you have written a critcal review of The Shack and are looking to place the review in a magazine or if you are looking for someone to do a critical review of your children’s books.

If you are talking about a critical review of The Shack that you’ve written…

…other than This Rock, you might try Envoy. I believe Crisis magazine is now online only.

Why not try to give us a whack at it and put your review right here? 😉 We can critique your review! 👍
Click to expand...
Sorry for the confusion! I meant a review of “The Shack.” TR considered it, but has decided to pass. They pointed out that they really try to steer clear of book reviews. I wouldn’t mind sharing the review, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to post on the Forums. If anyone wants to take a look at it and share your thoughts, just drop me a note.
 
Writer said:
Sorry for the confusion! I meant a review of “The Shack.” TR considered it, but has decided to pass. They pointed out that they really try to steer clear of book reviews. I wouldn’t mind sharing the review, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to post on the Forums. If anyone wants to take a look at it and share your thoughts, just drop me a note.
Click to expand...
Note dropped! :tiphat:
 
Take your time reading it! I know it’s a little on the long side. As I don’t want to take the time to search out a publisher who will likely want it shortened, it looks like it will be showing up next month on Tiber River’s new book review website.
 
If we haven’t already beaten this horse to death here, I wanted to mention that TiberRiver.com Catholic Book Reviews will be publishing the review in March on its new and improved website. Meanwhile, I posted an excerpt on my own Articles page. If interested, you can take a sneak peek at home.earthlink.net/~karlerickson/id25.html . (It’s the second article excerpt down from the top.)

Also, if anyone is familiar with this site, I’d be interested in your experiences.
 
I was given this book as a Christmas gift from my mother in law (who is a Catholic). She said she loved it and that it was a great read. I finally got around to picking it up over this past weekend, and I was disappointed to find the mixed theology present in it.

After the first couple of chapters, I was having difficulty “getting into” the book, and found myself constantly reminding myself that it’s a work of fiction. And as a work of pure fiction, it might possibly have been a very enjoyable read, but the constant repeating of “it’s just fiction” was a bit distracting to me… So I decided to wander over to the forums to see what others’ thoughts on the book were. I wondered why so many other people would love it so much while I was left feeling lukewarm about it. Glad to see I’m not alone.

I think what’s most confusing about the book itself is that while it is fiction, it is easy for people to take it as being true. When my mother in law first gave me the book and told me how much she loved it, my first question was if it was a true story. She paused for a long time before trying to answer my question, and finally said, “well, you WANT it to be true… I think it could be.” That is the reason that I won’t recommend it to people. I think it can be very confusing to people who aren’t grounded in their faith and who might take the story as being true.

I was glad to see some of the discussions mention C.S. Lewis as I was reading through this thread. I was just thinking about his writings when I finished reading The Shack.

Just my thoughts.
 
The novel is set in the American Northwest. The main character is Mackenzie Philips, a father of five, called “Mack” by his family and friends.

Four years prior to the main events of the story, Mack takes his three children on a camping trip to Multnomah Falls and Wallowa Lake near Joseph, Oregon. Two of his children are playing in a canoe when it flips and almost drowns Mack’s son. Mack is able to save his son by leaving his youngest daughter Missy alone at their campsite. After Mack returns, he sees that Missy is missing. The police are called, and the family discovers that Missy has been abducted and murdered by a serial killer known as the “Ladybug Killer”. The police find an abandoned shack in the woods where Missy was taken, but her body is never found. Mack’s life sinks into what he calls The Great Sadness.

At the beginning of the book, Mack receives a note in his mailbox from “Papa”, saying that he would like to meet with Mack on that coming weekend at the shack. Mack is puzzled by the note - he has no relationship with his abusive father, who left when Mack was young. He suspects that the note may be from God, who his wife Nan refers to as “Papa”.

Mack leaves his family and goes alone to the shack, unsure of what he will see there. He arrives and finds nothing, but as he is leaving the shack and its surroundings are supernaturally transformed into a lush and inviting scene. He enters the shack and encounters manifestations of the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father takes the form of an African American woman who calls herself Papa, Jesus Christ is a Mideastern carpenter, and the Holy Spirit is personified as an Asian woman named Sarayu.

The bulk of the book narrates Mack’s conversations with Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu as he comes to terms with Missy’s death and his relationships with the three of them. Mack also has various experiences with each of them. Mack walks across a lake with Jesus, sees an image of his father in heaven with Sarayu, and has a conversation with Sophia, the personification of wisdom. At the end of his visit, Mack goes on a hike with Papa, who shows him where Missy’s body was left in a cave.

After spending the weekend at the shack, Mack leaves and immediately is nearly killed in an automobile accident. After his recovery, he realizes that he did not in fact spend the weekend at the shack, but that his accident occured on the same day that he arrived at the shack. He also leads the police to the cave which Papa revealed, and they find Missy’s body still lying there. With the help of forensic evidence discovered at the scene, the Ladybug Killer is arrested and put on trial.

(source)

A book of fiction that seems so real, yet it contains heresy? Yep, I won’t read it.
 
SedesDomi said:
It challenges our preconceived notions of who God isn’t and who God is.
Click to expand...
A lot of things challenge our preconceived notions of who God is and isn’t.

Doesn’t make them right.

I take it that since you felt the book was “great,” you found things which not only challenged your preconceived notions of God, but which you see as worthy of praise. Can you elaborate?
 
ATL_Granny said:
I take it that since you felt the book was “great,” you found things which not only challenged your preconceived notions of God, but which you see as worthy of praise. Can you elaborate?
Click to expand...
It was good to see a Protestant consider the possibility that God the Father might manifest as a Black woman. Who woulda thunk?:eek:
 
I thought it was a good book. I am currently reading it for the 2nd time. Yes…it is fiction.
I liked it because it reminded me that God is everywhere…and can manifest as male or female…plant or animal. That is the real message I took from the book. So what if it contradicts some teaching in theology…it is fiction…made to be interesting…but does have a message…and God is love.
 
Did anyone ever answer this question? The more I read ABOUT the SHack, the less I want to read it. But I’m very interested in true “catholic” opinions.
 
hopefull said:
Did anyone ever answer this question? The more I read ABOUT the SHack, the less I want to read it. But I’m very interested in true “catholic” opinions.
Click to expand...
No, I never got a response. Personally, I would not recommend this book. I was just curious as to what Catholics beyond our parish book club thought.

We read it because some local nuns had recommended it to someone after a retreat. I did find out later that apparently they are not too traditional. 😉 The book seemed very anti-Catholic. Not that the Catholic church individually is targeted but it is very anti-institution (and what bigger religious institution is there than the Catholic Church?) and anti-organized religion. Reminded me of 60’s hippie stuff and/or new age garbage. The problem is if you read the reviews and the jacket it’s being touted as some great theological writing!

The topper was when a friend told me that she knew people (non-Catholic) that were studying it in BIBLE CLASS and comparing it to scripture! :eek:

Maybe it’s good that no one hear has apparently read it. :rolleyes:
 
Ok, thanks. WIth all the great spiritual reading available, I can’t understand why people would even waste the time on The Shack.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top