Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.
Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.
In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant 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. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
(cover image and summary lifted from Goodreads)
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Windblown Media
Publication date: July 1, 2007
Source/Format: Bought/Paperback
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | NationalBook Store | Fully Booked
My Thoughts:
This is one of the books which I picked up and did not like at first then after a long time picked it up again then came to love it. I guess my reading mood was to blame. Looking back, I think the first time I tried to read it, I was looking for something intense and this book is not that. It is more a book for reflection and healing.
While reading, I was envious of the main character because he got to talk one-on-one with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and this woman called Sophia. He also got to eat home-cooked meals of The Father, got to tend the garden with the Holy Spirit, and got to try walking above water with the Son. Somebody might say that the idea of having a weekend retreat with the Trinity is too far-fetched but the author found a way to make it the reader be the judge if the events actually took place or not. A little kind of what Yan Martel did in Life of Pi's ending.
Another thing that I like about it is the abundance of inspirational quotes. I couldn't help but post some of them in my Goodreads status updates. Some are a little too long so I just highlighted my paperback copy so I can get back at them when I want to. Also worth noting is the chapter titles. I like it when the book has apt chapter titles.
Last thing I'm commenting on is the resolution of the main character's conflict with the abductor of his daughter, which was beautifully written. What I don't like is the resolution of the main character's conflict with his father. It felt a little contrived.
This book is all what it says it is and more. My main takeaway from it was how to have a forgiving heart both to myself and the others. Check it out if you are searching for some soul tranquility.
Sidenote: I don't believe in the Trinity but I was surprised how that did not affect my reading enjoyment.
