The Shack: THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

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The characters in this book were not fleshed out at all. Most writers know that to develop a character you have them do things that show the reader who the person is....you don't just narrate what they did and how they felt. The reader has nothing invested and couldn't give two poops what happens to the characters when you tell instead of show. A little girl died violently in this book and I was completely unfazed by it. That is a miserable failure. Exactly,” Jesus interrupted. “You imagine. Such a powerful ability, the imagination! That power alone makes you so like me. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster. If I may prove my case, do you think that humans were designed to live in the present or the past or the future?” Sloppy synonyms: No one outside of bodice-rippers uses the word "visage" for "face". I lost count how many times this word is used. It is an example of the author reaching for the thesaurus when he got bored. Elementary writing classes teach "In dialogue, use the words "he said" instead of "he opined" or other such synonyms". I would gladly pay for Young to take a writing course in lieu of Jacobsen editing another of his books. The entire beginning of the book bored me and seemed second rate. The characters and conversations didn't ring true to me. I only kept at it because I had heard that something amazing would await me later in the book. Also, I never forgot that this was a book and a story that someone made up. When my attitude towards the book changed as it became more meaty, I still felt that story-wise, it was cliche, predictable, and even hokey. When it came together at the end, I did have a greater appreciation of the way the plot elements came together, but most of the time I thought certain components of the story weren't very well done.

The police in the film adaptation are convinced that Missy’s disappearance is the work of a serial abductor who has taken at least five young girls over the years, providing a link to the original killer but without using his name. The following section contains what might be some spoilers for some people, but I wanted to mention them (being a little vague) as parts of the book that I particularly appreciated. I don't disagree with the message that God loves us and wants a relationship with us, but this book is so full of pot-holes and misinterpretations that renders it useless: Young skirts the issue of crime and criminals somewhat. God says that he loves his children all equally no matter what they have done and this is shown in a very strong scene in the text. This one scene was probably the best of the entire work. Counter to this, or maybe because of the focus, Young suggests that responsibility is a man-made construction that has no use in God’s eyes. The idea that we could all live together in peace and harmony sounds lovely, but ignores the fact that we live in a world with lots of “broken” souls. The Puritans were clear about responsibility and made sure that able-bodied people worked or starved. We have strayed very far from the principle of responsibility and I thought it was highly irresponsible of the author to suggest that we don’t need to act responsibly. I personally think that if people strived and were honest about what they were capable of and what they could contribute to our society, then we could take much better care of those who are not able to work to support themselves.I can suspend disbelief in books about zombies, vampires, genius eleven year old girls, chimera, reasonable Republicans (okay, that one was difficult) but I couldn't do it with this book, or other books like it, because these books have a agenda to make you believe in the stuff they are writing about and that makes my stomach turn. At the beginning the ever narrating narrator narrated (and I paraphrase) 'You may not believe in Mac's story here. He doesn't care, maybe this book isn't for you'.....okay.....'But then again maybe it is!' ***drama sting**** He did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being, had no power within himself to heal anyone. . . .

one of the reasons it makes no sense to you is because you have such a small view of what it means to be human. You and this Creation are incredible, whether you understand it or not. You are wonderful beyond imagination. Just because you make horrendous and destructive choices does not mean you deserve less respect for what you inherently are - the pinnacle of my Creation and the center of my affection.” Billboard 200: The Week of March 18, 2017". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved March 16, 2017. This is a hard book to review because you pretty much have to separate it into two parts. The novel, and the theological. Papa is one facet of the three-part God depicted in the novel (the others being Jesus and Sarayu). Papa also calls herself “Elousia,” which Jesus explains means “the Creator God. She fills the role… If I may take one or two more liberties in criticizing a book I really enjoyed. As much as I enjoyed the folksy presentation of God in this story, there are parts that don't ring true. Holy Spirit still feels ethereal and standoffish. Wisdom's speeches are canned and the meals get repetitive. Major editing could have made this one of the great books of Christianity. Also, I doubt anyone outside Christianity will read past the first few chapters. That's a pity, but it is true. It is not written well enough and there are still too many obviously contrived parts to the plot to make it seem real to someone who is bent on criticizing Christian writers.

As far as the theological aspect goes I think he presents God in a way that challenges our notions of who exactly we think he is. It seems to be done in a deliberate way and to be honest it sometimes made me uncomfortable. This was written by someone who believes in the Trinity but was making attempts to show how they function separately. All of the characterization of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and their interactions with each other felt off to me. However the conversations they have with the main character provided some amazing insight to me as to the love God has for us and just exactly how arrogant we can be in our judgements of God's decisions whether those judgements be conscious or not. Case no. CV 10-3246 JFW (JCx) Plaintiffs' opposition to defendant William Paul Young's motion to dismiss the first amended complaint". US District Court, Central District of California, Western Division . Retrieved 30 July 2011. Buy a set of books as gifts to battered women’s shelters, prisons, rehabilitation homes and the like where people might be really encouraged by the story and its message. This book is a story of God sharing his heart with a broken man. The first section of the book will hit you in the chest, as it describes what the author calls "The Great Sadness" of the novels protagonist.