Has anyone read a book titled "The Shack?"

[Boltingmadonna]

When it was first published, I heard that people like Mark Driscoll were hatin' on it, so I thought it might be interesting. When I found a copy cheap in a used book store, I took it home and read it. I'm a fast reader and I can tolerate crap writing, so that didn't bother me too much, except that it's really more like a very, very long sermon rather than a real story.

What I hated was the ending, where as I recall, the hero sees his little girl's spirit as a sweet little light shining away in the midst of a whole bunch of other lights, and that's supposed to make everything okay. What? God lets a child be murdered and puts this guy through hell as well, and that's supposed to be the happy ending? Yay, in the spirit world everything's okay. It was quite a disappointment, and pissed me off as well.

This may just be my pet peeve, but I was also pissed off that, of course, the sacrificial lamb had to be a cute little girl. And yet, the story wasn't about her. It was about a MAN because it's his spiritual journey that we have to emulate. Well, what about HER feelings? She really wasn't a character, she was just a plot device. I'm sick of women/girls being murdered for the sake of a plot. It's as if our lives don't count--we're just here to motivate the protagonist. I suppose that's understandable on a cop show. But someone who's trying to explain the problem of evil should know better than to treat little girls as if they were disposable objects who live and die to teach DAD a spiritual lesson. Barf.

If he was really trying to talk about his own abuse, that's interesting. I wish he'd written about that straight up. Maybe it would have come across as more honest and meaningful.

[Boltingmadonna]

I just wanted to add that, after reading that he has six kids, I think if I were one of his children and read "The Shack," I would be seriously creeped out. "Here, kids, as a gift to you I've written a book about a father whose child is sexually abused and murdered. Enjoy!" Er . . . no.

[Rachel333]

I just wanted to add that, after reading that he has six kids, I think if I were one of his children and read "The Shack," I would be seriously creeped out. "Here, kids, as a gift to you I've written a book about a father whose child is sexually abused and murdered. Enjoy!" Er . . . no.

Seriously. He wrote this for his kids as a Christmas gift? :shock:

[Third]

It was suggested to me. I read a few reviews online. Decided I prefer sleep to nightmares about kids being raped.

[Witsec7]

The author is just another wacky fundy who has chosen to live in my state. What ever happened to Idaho? Why can't that state be their promised land?

[deelaem]

I was thinking more "horrible in the sense that it seems to exploit the (albeit fictional) kidnapping, raping, and killing of a little girl for supposed religious revelations" than "horrible, Twilight-quality level of writing"

LOL! I know you hate me, but I just couldn't help giving you kudos for this one.

[gustava]

It sounds like a knock-off of the Lovely Bones, with a healthy serving of Christian theology/mythology thrown in for good measure.

ETA- Because the book was The Lovely Bones, not The Lonely Bones!

When I saw someone reading The Shack recently, I recommended The Lovely Bones!

[narcoleption reflux]

OK, now I am really creeped out that my mother-in-law gave me this book. I'm also creeped out that I still have the book in my house. This is a book that will lead me to Jesus? It sounds like a poorly written horror novel. What should I do with the book? I hate to throw away any book. Should I just put on a neighbor's porch? No, that might be considered assault.

If I want a good horror story, I'll just read me some Stewart O'Nan, thank you very much. He is amazing. I guess I'll just take it to Goodwill, or drop it off at the Ed Young church a block from my house. That's probably where MIL picked it up.

[finleeport]

I read that the author was a C.S. Lewis devotee/fan. The book didn't sound that good, even CS Lewis's books, albeit preachy, had some good storytelling. And they say the Irish are excellent story-tellers.

[emmiedahl]

It sounds like The Lovely Bones with a little Christianity thrown in.

[mirele]

That book gave me a headache. I never did finish it and threw it out.

Yeah, I couldn't figure out what the mystique was aroound the DaVinci Code. Maybe because the ideas expressed within were extrapolations of some fairly off-the-wall history/theology I'd read in my college days. (Meaning: Brown took some fairly weird ideas to start out with, and then went nuts.) On top of that, the book has some real historical howlers and one of them made me hurl the book at the wall. That was the end.

[Eoywin]

I was a part of a book club at work when this book came out and it became someone's book club pick. I was pregnant at the time and I had a hard time with the violence done to the daughter. The rest felt rather heavy handed to me and I'm a Christian.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!

[OohLaLa]

When my parents were still just evangelical, fundie-lite, my mom gave me this book and said that it was "tough" but "very good." Not long after they joined their new church which is full-on fundie craziness and then she told me not to read, that I just should throw it away because she's learned that "the theology in it is very incorrect." I never planned on reading it and still don't!

[JesusFightClub]

It sounds like The Lovely Bones with a little Christianity thrown in.

Which is my worst. fiction. related. nightmare.

I hated The Lovely Bones in a way I have hated few novels before or since. It almost equalled my loathing for anything Paulo Coelho has ever laid a finger upon.

[theologygeek]

OK, now I am really creeped out that my mother-in-law gave me this book. I'm also creeped out that I still have the book in my house. This is a book that will lead me to Jesus? It sounds like a poorly written horror novel. What should I do with the book? I hate to throw away any book. Should I just put on a neighbor's porch? No, that might be considered assault.

If I want a good horror story, I'll just read me some Stewart O'Nan, thank you very much. He is amazing. I guess I'll just take it to Goodwill, or drop it off at the Ed Young church a block from my house. That's probably where MIL picked it up.

That's not a book that would lead anyone to Jesus. Ask your mother-in-law if she thinks it's non fiction. I'm wondering if she does, because there were people who thought it was.

[Jezebel]

That's not a book that would lead anyone to Jesus. Ask your mother-in-law if she thinks it's non fiction. I'm wondering if she does, because there were people who thought it was.

The person who pressed a copy of 'The Shack' on me was very fundie-lite, and I'm pretty sure she thought it would "open my heart" or somesuch. I think she saw it as a parable, a way of introducing certain concepts about God through a story, and hoped that it would lead to discussion (where she could then tell me All About Jesus).

So it may not be seen as a book that leads people directly to Jesus, but rather as a way to open up that conversation.

And I wouldn't be surprised if some people assumed it was true. As a former bookseller, I can tell you that most people never read books, and when some of them do end up reading whatever monstrously popular piece of junk is the current craze, they frequently mistake novels for nonfiction, or else they are unable to determine that a book like 'The Shack' is fiction unless explicitly told it is. When 'The Da Vinci Code' was all the rage, there was a dismaying number of people who believed that all of the history was true, or even that the story itself was--there were lots of unauthorized spin-off books cashing in on that, as well as Christian writers "debunking" it. I had customers who thought 'The Bridges of Madison County' was a true story, despite having 'a novel' printed on the front and 'fiction' printed on the back, and they wanted to know if the photographer in the story had ever published books of his photos.

As for what to do with unwanted bad books? Giving it back to the giver (if it could possibly be considered a loan, not a gift) is one way to be rid of it. But I have no qualms these days about tossing bad books in the recycling bin, so they can be put to better use as copier paper, egg cartons, or maybe even a better book.

[Silver Springs]

I did. I'm a Christian and my mom insisted I read it. Bought me a copy. I was underwhelmed.

[SealFan1963]

Very seldom do I start reading a book and not finish it, no matter how bad the book is, but The Shack was awful. I couldn't finish it.

[narcoleption reflux]

I did. I'm a Christian and my mom insisted I read it. Bought me a copy. I was underwhelmed.

I was once a Christian, and i still love all y'all. I do. My dad is 70 and worried about his health, and that's why he sent me my lovely Bible, embossed, leather cover. I think that my mother-in-law saw that and decided to give me this book.

[narcoleption reflux]

Jezebel, advice taken. Trash/recycling day tomorrow. I was once a bookseller, too. Dealt with used books, and donations, so I don't know where my problem was with this book. Thanks, shug!

[Creaky Mom]

Hardline fundies hate it because it isn't orthodox, whilst forgetting that it is FICTION.

I stopped reading and tossed my second-hand copy in the garbage when I could no longer stand how badly written it is.