| The Shack Large Print | 
 enlarge | Author: William P. Young
Publisher: windblown media
Category: Book
Buy Used: $250.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  2209 reviews
Sales Rank: 368140
Media: Hardcover
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0
ISBN: 0964729245
EAN: 9780964729247
ASIN: B001IX2V46
Publication Date: 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Mac is a grief-stricken father in mid-life about to have an extraordinary experience with God. His great sadness began four years ago on a weekend camping trip, when his 6-year-old daughter, Missy, was murdered. What he couldn't know then, but is about to learn, was God's purpose for Missy's death. Roger Mueller's clear, gentle voice characterizes Mac's family with high-spirited joy and laughter. His portrayal of Missy's animated excitement makes her especially believable. His polished performance of grief-stricken Mac brings tears. With empathy and sensitivity, Mueller captures the mysterious voices of those who have invited him to the now abandoned, yet transformed, cabin in the wilderness. This compelling fantasy explores themes of love, loss, and blame.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2204 more reviews...
 Good concept, badly written January 5, 2009
I expected 'The Shack' to be something similar to Mitch Albom's 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven', only with God actually being in the story.
Instead, I got a few chapters of a fairly interesting crime drama(considering the author is not, as far as I know, a 'professonal'), before it all deteriorated into a mix of evangelical proseltyzing and 'New Age' philosophy.
I think Young simply tried too hard to turn a simple 'spiritual fiction' novella into some sort of 'epic', meant to enlighten readers of all faiths...or no faiths.
Young's nontraditional views of God, instead of seeming revolutionary, or thought-provoking, just seemed to be too 'cute'. He lacks Albom's gift with words, the ability to make a profound point in a simple way. Much of Young's prose was paradoxically simplistic, easy to read, yet bogged down by complicated explanations of spiritual issues, delivered in a cloying, 'down home' tone. (Maybe pandering to the Oprah Book Club demographic?)
One of the more confusing sides of the story is Young's attempt to paint 'free will and independence' as the down side of mankind's failure to 'accept Jesus'. Even Young doesn't seem clear about what point he's trying to make here.
This book just boils down to another evangelical text, trying to 'save' or 'convert' people, but not offering anything really fresh or memorable.
Without giving away the ending...anyone familiar with the old joke that says that bad writers write themselves out of a corner by having the main character 'get hit by a bus', will see that idea in a whole new light!
 This is heresy January 5, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is heresy. Another feel good book that is leading people away from the Truth.
 A Solid & Spiritual Read January 4, 2009
I started The Shack and was pulled into the story before the end of the second chapter.
Unexpectedly, the book touched me on many levels.
As a father, it touched me and brought me to tears when Mac loses his baby daughter. One can only try to imagine the amount of hurt, and guilt, a parent feels in that situation.
On another level, it touched me spiritually. The way that Mac was encouraged to have a closer, more personal relationship with God (something I and many others wish to attain) was helpful to me in my journey.
In the most important part to me, God says " Mack, for you to forgive this man is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him."
How many times have I refused to forgive someone?
I understand now that The Shack is now a Besteller on Amazon and some may begin to call it a "fad".
I call it a good, solid spiritual read.
Not for me January 4, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Those that know me would be surprised that I read this book. I'm agnostic and have not read the bible (I tried the Old Testament but could not get past the begetting part) nor attended church services. A complete stranger recommended this book to me while I was browsing the aisles of Barnes & Noble. I read the back cover, which stated: "The Shack wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him". I thought: why not give it a try. It was Christmas and you can't turn on the news without hearing about catastrophes of the week; I can use a bit of faith.
The book started off fine, it was actually heart-wrenching. Mack's five-year old daughter was kidnapped and murdered during a fateful camping trip. While they never found her body, they did find her blood-soaked dress in a little shack miles from the camp ground. After this incident, Mack lost faith in God. Two years later, he gets a note from God, inviting him back to the shack.
This is where the story started losing me. When Mack arrives at the shack, he is greeted by God himself, who is personified by a large, jovial African American woman. He meets Jesus, personified by a Caucasian man in overalls. He also meets the Holy Spirit, personified by an Asian woman by the name of Sarayu. They cook, garden, and eat dinner together. The next hundred pages are a blur of boring storyline and clumsy dialogue. However, I did get out of it the following key messages:
1. God does not control and intervene. God does not swoop down to rescue us when we need it and leave us alone when we don't. This actually fits with my libertarian point of view very well.
2. God views us as his children and love each one of us, regardless of who we are and what we do. I've always had a hard time with this viewpoint; I can't accept the idea that killers are still embraced.
3. There is an afterlife, and God has greater plans for us all.
I guess in sum, the book did make me think a bit. But I could not get pass the new age-y and irreverent personification, the awkward and long dialogue and the predictable ending.
I finish the book still an agnostic.
Why does God allow evil to exist? January 4, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Shack is an inspiring, very emotionally affecting story that will impress many people. It's a good read, its very popular, and so for those two reasons and some of its content, it will certainly raise eyebrows in some corners in terms of its theological basis. I wouldn't let that deter me from reading it at least twice.
The work serves three main purposes:
1) to inspire readers into developing a closer relationship with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit using the vehicle of the age-old question "why do bad things happen to good, innocent people and children?" In the book, the central character is confronted with a terrible event no parent or father would ever want to consider or think about for too long.
2) to argue the author's central thesis that the degree to which our relationships with one another mirror Christ's love for us and his commandment to "love one another as I have loved you" is equally or more important to God and one's eternal soul than
a) our worldly accomplishments and sucesses; and
b) our degree of adherence to church "doctrine", rules, and rituals.
3) To answer typical questions surrounding topics such as divine penalities for sinful behavior, the existence of Hell, and divine justice and judgement through a (perhaps) provocative theory of universal salvation and redemption through God's grace and power. In short, the author posits that because God's nature is thoroughly good and loving, it is impossible for him to act in a manner contradictory to that nature, e.g. by sending any of his children to eternal damnation. Though God does not cause bad things to happen, neither does he intervene to stop them, especially those that are man-made. God gave mankind its independence, knowing full-well that such evil would follow. Instead, God will ultimately use "evil" acts and persons to advance his own pre-ordained redemption and end-purpose for all humanity - thus, forgiveness of evil (meaning dropping the urge to seek revenge against or to punish an evil-doer) becomes the only truly God-like response to the horrific and hideous tragedy at the heart of the story.
This novel is not a bible unto itself and does not address the wide gamut of Christ's teachings and message. It focuses on relationships, judging, and the purpose of forgiveness in a clever and emotionally affecting manner.
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