Read about half of this book, and skimmed through the rest, reading the last 1 or 2 chapters, so I know the ending and about how Mack was shown Missy's body etc. At the end it talks about how he has lost 'The Great Sadness' etc and is no longer so consumed with the tragedy of his daughter's death. My question is how did this happen - was it a sudden answer to a question that he was given, or is it through the general accumulation of his talks with Sarayu, Jesus and Papa? To be honest I just struggled to follow all their conversations and didn't find it a compelling page turner. Clearly I missed something so many other people got, and rave about!

Thanks for your help!

 To be honest I only read the first chapter! I couldn't get into the story at all to see what people raved about!

 i'd love to help but 2 chapters (nearly) i put it down and started something else. This will go on my NTBF pile.

Amanda

I hve just finished this book- it was a choice for our reading group, so not a book I would have chosen to read at all.

I found it one of the worst books I have ever read. Unbelievably banal conversations.

The bit when he walks on water with Jesus....ridiculous.

The times when he calls God "Papa" when God is portrayed a  large  black Mama, who loves cooking,(because he didnt want a stereotype of an old man with a beard( so swapped it for anothr stereotype)?.  

How did he lose The Great Sadness" as he insists on calling it...

He see his daughter "in heaven" and see that she is happy and does not blame him for her death.

He sees his dead father and forgives him for illtreating him.

You did the rigt thing in skim reading the book, I wasted too much time reading it, cant wait to reaad a decently written book now!

 I managed to read it all the way through but it I found it cringingly terrible. I hoped it would get better but it didnt I dont like to stop reading a book once I have started it though.

I managed to get through it but didn't enjoy it. I guess it was a hard premise to fulfil. The idea was that God would give some idea why terrible things happen to good people, and I didn't think the explanation was good enough / believable enough....but then the explanation ultimately has to be human since that is what the author is - so although the author sets outs to give an explanation to something divine, he cannot succeed as he is not divine. Does that make sense or am I rambling?

 I had a real sinking feeling when I was reading these posts as I thought I had just bought the book! Checked my shelves and there it was: a bargain from Borders, or soI thought at the time. Has anybody enjoyed this book?

Sal

Weirdly, I did actually enjoy it!  Totally against my expectations, because I'm not religious in the slightest and very sceptical (some would even say cynical!), and in parts the book is fanciful, to say the least, even twee sometimes.  But something in it did appeal, as I explained in this review: http://forums.readitswapit.co.uk/forums/p/50654/588997.aspx#588997

 Thanks for that Penny, I will give it a go then.

Cheers,

Sal

becks0904:

My question is how did this happen - was it a sudden answer to a question that he was given, or is it through the general accumulation of his talks with Sarayu, Jesus and Papa?

Yes it was through the general accumulation of these conversations.  Also, when he visits Sophia in the tunnels and is taught about judgment, he goes on to be shown Missy "in heaven" happy in Jesus's love.  This helps him to overcome his grief.

I'll admit that some of the conversations were a bit hard going and I did skim little bits - I tried not to get too wound up trying to understand every sentence and instead saw the "big picture".

I really enjoyed the book and I think that I really spoke to me.  The whole concept of God as portrayed in this book seemed more believable to me than any version I've been told before.

It makes me slightly envious of people who have true Faith - that they should feel the way Mack ends up feeling in this book - they really are blessed.

angelinapink:

The bit when he walks on water with Jesus....ridiculous.

 I think "ridiculous" is a bit harsh.

My take on the book is that the part of the story where Mack is spending time with God is actually a vision/hallucination/dream brought on by Mack's Great Sadness and let's face it, anything could happen in a dream, even walking on water. 

My idea of this being a dream is borne out by two things: firstly when Mack comes round from the coma after the car accident he thinks he was away at the shack for several days but his family say it was only overnight; secondly when he is with God they find Missy's body and take it from the cave to bury it in the casket which Jesus built, in the garden at the shack.  However, after Mack has returned home he tells the police about the cave and they find Missy's body there, it hasn't been moved at all.

I agree with you that it was a dream, Wendy.  And the "walking on water" bit is not only perfectly feasible in a dream but, in this context, necessary (as in the Bible) as a test of Mack's faith in Jesus.

I skim read this book some time ago as it had been lent to me by a friend from Church.  

It helped me a great deal as I had not managed to stop being angry about how my Son-in-Law (thankfully now ex) had put our daughter through.  He is an alcoholic control freak with multiple personalities and personality disorders.  He had almost succeeded in alienating her from all her friends, work colleagues and family by many means including abusive texts sent from her mobile to her friends.  A real charmer.  She escaped to us after a really severe beating and we felt dreadful that we hadn't realised how bad it was for her.

Anyway it took this book to make me realise that 'Waste-of-Space' was still affecting us as we were so filled with hate, regret, etc.  This book enabled us to make a conscious effort to put this behind us and accept that he had done bad things but we had to forgive him in order to begin to move forward.  He has no idea of the forgiveness but it enabled us to release all the poison of negativity he had caused to build up in us.   Very heavy stuff for us but the Shack, whilst it was banal, simplistic and replaced one stereotype with another, gave us the shove we needed.  

So I think that this book won't hurt you!  And if you can't hack it - stop reading it.  And if it says something to you, good.  But its not the Bible.

 I see that a local bar/restaurant has a reading group.....oooh, shall I join then?  And then I saw that they had chosen The Shack,and so I shall give the group a miss. 

janetandjohn:

 I see that a local bar/restaurant has a reading group.....oooh, shall I join then?  And then I saw that they had chosen The Shack,and so I shall give the group a miss. 

 They won't be reading it every month though will they?  I think it's the sort of book that every reading group will get around to reading at some point because there are so many issues to discuss.