I have had a couple of people talk to me about this. I am going to read it, has it been discussed?

I don't think we've discussed it here. Julia Duin wrote a front-page (below the fold) story about it in today's Washington Times, and covered it in her weekly column, also today.

My denomination's magazine also reviewed it in a recent issue.

Two good friends read it recently as part of a book discussion.

They said that it had some good elements. But they also said that it was pretty hit-or-miss as far as writing went (leaning heavily toward the miss side). The woes of self-publishing, I guess.

I mentioned it a year ago here, but I don't know that it was discussed beyond that. I wrote:



Indeed, it is a publishing phenomenon.

I must say it seems as though Ms. Duin's expectations were rather high. She seems shocked, shocked to discover that a piece of mass-market religious fiction does not, in fact, unravel the perplexing theodicy problem.

I thought it was an OK self-help book dressed up in Christian theology. The quality of writing isn't bad for an author's first novel, nothing any worse than what Dan Brown puts out. The portrayal of the trinity, I didn't find to be openly heretical, but a little too touchy-feely for my tastes. There were some well-done passages on grace and mystery, but repetitive passages about God cooking such marvelous goodies for his guest makes him sound a bit too much like Rachel Ray.

All in all, I suppose this book can help someone who has experienced a great tragedy in their lives, but I wouldn't call it essential reading for most people. I do think the approach of writing theology in a narrative form to have potential in communicating such truths to people who wouldn't otherwise dig into a thick doctrinal volume. But that assumes that true theology is communicated besides (I like this phrase from the link Christian provided): "spiritual comfort food loaded with theological trans fat".

On the positive side, God is revealed to be a huge Bruce Cockburn fan. Too bad he didn't put in a good word for Sam Phillips too, but maybe that will be in the sequel: The Yurt.

The Shack was the featured book for our church's annual summer reading group. To be honest I read up to the chapter I was leading a discussion on and then stopped. The theology did nothing for me and like the rest I thought the writing was not very good.

In one sense my regard of the book is opposite of Crow: where Crow saw it as a self-help book dressed up as theology, I thought it was theology dressed up as self-help. Again, I didn't finish it and I don't read self-help. However, the book gives away too much in the opening chapters. I don't ever question Mack will make it through his trials. In fact he'll come out of his great sadness for the better. Thus, as far I saw it, the only thing left to read was the theology - making it the second systematic theology book hiding as fiction that I've read in the last three months. There is a reason most theology books are written as boring old non-fiction.

So what was the first one?

I haven't read it and now probably won't given what has been posted above. I was titillated by an essay in a recent CTondeadtree. I think I'll pass. Not a fan of selfhelp myself. But this was self published? I'm impressed. I only became aware of it from the trade paperbacks in the book section at my store across the aisle from the bread dept. that I've been subbing in this month due to vacations.

I wouldn't refer to it as self help at all. I guess somehow it does have a bit of that vibe, though I couldn't pin down exactly why. Mainly it's theology coated with a heaping layer of schmaltz. I found the first, darker, part of the book fairly engaging actually. Maybe that's because I'm a new parent. Then it got to feeling all Oprah on me and I pretty much lost any enthusiasm during the rest of it. I'd give it a rating of "Ehh."

It's a Dance by Patrick Oden. It's a book about pneumatology and ecclesiology. It comes with a recommendation by Jurgen Moltmann and others. The author studied under Veli-Matti Karkkainen. The content is good. However, because it is written in a fictional narrative style some of the supposedly off-the-cuff statements are a little too refined for my taste. It's not a bad book, but because it is written in a narrative style there isn't much room for it to address possible objections to its theology.

uhm, er, I don't like the callous feeling I have, but I have reached a point where every time I see "the great sadness, I feel like saying shut up already.

I keep waiting for the magic unicorns/ Forests of Narnia to show up.

I have spoken with many people for whom this book has dramatically re-formulated their view of God. In fact, I have rarely seen a book get the response this one does (raving fans and strong word of mouth) - and I say that as someone who also wished the writing were more polished. There is something unhelpful about how God has traditionally been portrayed, and that something is being undone here for many readers. A very positive development, literary polish aside. Just fwiw.

I enjoyed the book, cried many times with it, but wouldn't consider it "self-help" at all. I think it is an imagining of how God could appear to one man in one situation. A situation that brought beautifully desired grace, and an appearance from God The Trinity that is utterly, astoundingly beautiful.

I am ticked off though that the author isn't even the author. Wish I knew the difference between Paul Young and "Willie" Paul Young, or "Wm." Paul Young. Don't know how much of Mack's story is even true, or even if there is a Mack. The website doesn't help either. I guess I wish this were truth rather than fiction.

All that said, I think it would make a great film, as long as it were put in professional hands.



He did come out of The Great Sadness, but it left him in a coma and fighting for his life and sanity. The last chapter, I think, takes us on a swing we'd not imagined.

I read about half of it before I had to return it to the library.

Yes, there is some bad theology in it, but the thing that bugged me the most was how trite, cliched and trendy God's dialogue was. Not just that it was hip, but that it was dull. I've written Christian-themed plays and comic book scripts and stories before, and the one thing I always avoid like the plague is trying to write dialogue for God. Anything I come up with will always - ALWAYS - sound dull and trite when put into the mouth of the Almighty, All-knowing God. The wisest I can muster will always fall short of His standard. The most compassionate I can engineer will always miss the mark of His mercy. Write for saints, write for angels, sure. But write for God?

I liked the book overall. I agree that the writing itself could be (greatly) improved, but I think the writer addresses some difficult subjects well. I love God as a big, black woman. I don't understand why there was a continued reference to the masculine after all of the talk about how God is beyond gender, though. Okay, if God is appeared as a woman to break the male stereotype, why is God immediately a man again after Mack makes peace with his Dad?

I do REALLY wish this were just a first draft, though. I'd love to see a more polished version of THIS book.

Stef, there is no "Mack", though William P. Young (his real name) wrote this out of his own experiences.

It will be a film, no doubt; the people who helped get the book through several re-writes are involved in the film business and planned a film even before the book made a kajillion dollars.

I am thinking that Aronofsky is the right man for the job. The story itself rivals The Fountain, which I appreciated even more after several screenings. But some of the imagery is going to be tough to pull off and really light up the screen the way it needs to be lit up to make the book come alive in a theater.

Are 2 Million copies sold enough to get it out of the "Christian" film circuit?

Didn't work for Left Behind.

Can I request that Dennis Quaid play Mack and Tonye Patano play god.

Douglas Wilson has just posted his review:

FWIW, the priest who baptized me calls it "heresy".