I recently finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. It was given to me with high praise, and guarantees that it would change me in some way. My expectations were high and unfortunately the book did not live up to its billing.
Looking at the novel in a religious context, I was satisfied. I didn’t encounter the transforming nature that others had found in their perusal of Mack’s story, but I took a lot out of Mack’s conversations with ‘God’. Reading The Shack didn’t change my faith in any way shape or form, nor do I think it was meant to. The book certainly made me question some aspects of my faith, but in the end I was left with the same answers that I had had all along. My faith remained the same.
Looking at The Shack as a novel, as a work of fiction, I was disappointed. As a reader I have always been sort of preoccupied by the endings of books. I need a really good conclusion in order to be satisfied. I didn’t find this in reading The Shack. The ending, was short and utterly unfulfilling. It was predictable and terse. There is no other way to describe it. The build up was solid, but it was all wasted by the ending. I did not feel a sense of closure when I turned that last page.
The magic that has captivated so many others, just wasn’t present for me, especially at the end. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Maybe I was over-analyzing. I don’t know. Whatever the case, The Shack just didn’t do it for me.
What the Dickens? 