The Shack

Finally read it. Not sure how much I liked it, though. I'll start with its good points: It's one of the most imaginative and accessible treatments of God as Trinity I've ever read. I especially liked that neither God the Father (a "large beaming African-American woman") nor the Holy Spirit (Asian) nor Jesus (thankfully Middle Eastern, as opposed to the blond Jesus in my childhood picture Bible) were white. Some of it was hokey and over-played, but it had a richness of mood that I found contagious. These images will impact my prayer life in weeks to come, most certainly.

I also liked much of the theology. There was so much of it, in fact, that I imagine each individual reader will zero in on a different morsel. For me, it was the parts about love versus rules. One of my favorite lines: "'Remember, the people who know me are the ones who are free to live and love without any agenda' [Jesus]." And: "'Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to accuse' [Sarayu, the Holy Spirit]." This book is highly quotable.

What I didn't like was its cheese. I disagreed with all the liner comments about how literary it was. The writing was not BAD, not at all, but it did not reach any artistic heights. I found it far too heavy-handed for that. It was clever and engaging, but in large part it was a narrative scheme invented to frame apologetic conversations. I'd rather get my narrative theology from the narration. This novel was just far too expository. I skimmed a lot and skipped numerous paragraphs, sometimes entire pages that were mere framing devices or superfluous preaching. For that reason, I couldn't recommend it to too many of my friends -- it had no literary or spiritual subtlety. I give it a C+. For what my opinion is worth.