Review of "The Shack"

I have just (I mean about two hours ago) finished reading "The Shack" by William Young. To answer the question "Did I like it?" will betray one of the concepts of the book. The book tells the reader that people make things far more complicated than God intended, and I agree. But there are several elements I want to review so I will make it complicated. With that, let's go--

As a theologian, I actually liked what the book accomplished as a theology primer. If you have read any other review, you will know that there is a thread of trinitarian theology throughout it. As I was reading it I was thinking to myself, "ooh, there's a great example of perichorisis," and "now that's a cool way to look at the economic trinity," and "there's the great look at the immanence/transcendence of God." In that regard, it is a very interesting and evocative view of trinitarian theology. It's not complete, and I wouldn't recommend citing it while writing ordination exams, but as a place to start, I liked it.

I also give Young credit for tackling some very difficult concepts of physical representation of the Trinity and modalism. This could not have been easy, and so cudos for even trying. I believe he succeeded in this as well as anybody can given the milieu of the novel and limits of language.

But being a jaded man, as literature, I think the novel was simply average. There was a tone of emotional manipulation that left me uncomfortable throughout my reading. The front cover of my trade paperback version tells me "The Shack" is our generation's "Pilgrim's Progress." The back cover tells me that the author "suffered a great loss as a child and young adult" without telling the reader the nature of the "loss." The novel itself is anchored by A Great Sadness with those words in italics throughout the text.

By the time I got to the 4th chapter, titled A Great Sadness, I felt as if I was being dragged through an emotional muck, much of which was supported not by the text of the novel. The most grieveous example being the author's use of literary devices including a "Foreword" and "After Words" which were not the notes of the author but of the narrator. As a writer friend of mine once wrote, this is the difference between the "author" and the "authorial I." My friend recognizes and revels in the device, blowing out the fourth wall (itself a device). Young seems to use it to manipulate the reader.

Further, the package itself invites the reader to get more copies for friends and book groups and tells of the windblown Media Group's difficulty in finding a publisher and their subsequent efforts to get "The Shack" made into a movie. I don't think Bunyon had to resort to that in the first printing of "Pilgrim's Progress." Add to that info about the book's tangent projects found on the fiinal leaves and I wonder if the popularity of this novel is the phenomenon the publisher will have you believe or if this is the best marketed Christian book of the past ten years.

All in all, it is a page turner, it is entertaining, and it is very moving. I laughed, I cried, yet I felt manipulated by the author more than moved by the characters. There is a theological value to the work which makes this a great youth study, women's group book, or even a supplemental text for a high school theology class. It is a good place to start, but it should by no means be the end all of theological instruction or relationship development.

cover photo taken from amazon.com

One more note, as I say I am jaded, this is more to my woe than an insult toward people who really like the book. Still, it is my bias, my jading and my blog.