The Shack

I just need to get something out of the way. This book is so incredible. I strongly recommend for everyone to read it. Anyways, my last post wasn't very informational. I left off explaining that Mack was having an internal battle of whether or not to go back to the place that held pain so great he has not revisted it in years.  A few things were storming through his mind when he got the note: is this some kind of sick prank? is this the murderer toying with me? is this really God? This part of the book really choked me up and I was literally balling my eyes for the whole beginning of the book. It was really touching getting to know the character and understanding his pain while loosing Missy, " a special little girl". I really related to it because this little girl reminded me immensley of my own little sister. I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain her older sister, Kate, felt. When I tried the tears came streaming down and definitely did not stop. It really hit me hard. As I was reading this part I thought things like, "why do bad things like this happen so frequently?" and "how can such a sick man do this?"  I was honestly angry at the story. Then things changed in the book.
So he got the note and he decided to pack up and go back to the horrid place that trapped the suffering of his "Great Saddness" . However, he did not tell his wife and wanted to go when his family was out of town just in case it was the killer and was trying to trick him. Luckily, his wife (Nan) wanted to go visit her brother in "the islands" with the kids. They went because her brother is a child psychiatrist and Kate was having issues since the murder.
Once he finally made it "the shack" the place he forced himself to never think about again, he started regretting the idea. I'm going to skim over this part-- its just talking about how it was like opening an old wound and pouring lemon juice and stabbing it again he even contemplated suicide. He cursed at God (Papa) and said I'm done with you and you are horrible and he continued saying that he was crazy for believing God would help him. He began to leave along with his hope.
This part of the story is going to sound a little bit like A) a dream B) psychotic break or C) a fictional story.  Its difficult to explain the relgious aspect of the story. I'll do my best. When he walks back into "the shack" expect now it looks like a cozy cabin with flowers bursting everywhere and instead of it being icey cold its a warm summer day, he finds a large African-American women. She embraces him like shes known him all her life. Mack is speechless and strongly believes he is on the verge of death because he doesn't believe what he is seeing. So as the story continues, two other characters are introduced-- The Holy Spirit (an asian woman) and Jesus ( a middle eastern, short handyman). Throughout the story they answer questions that everyone seems to have. If God has all this power and love for us then why does he allow pain, suffering, kidnapping, rapes, etc? It explains so many things.  So right now the story is trying to have Mack rekindle his relationship with God and to believe in something. Very powerful story.
I hope to see Mack slowly understand and not have so much hate and regret. One of my favorite parts of the story is when they talk about just living in the present instead of the past and planning the future. (the story does a much better job with explaining that then me) I know personally I have a hard time taking each moment for what it is and understanding what patience really is. The imagery in this part of the story is incredible. It explains everything to where you can smell and taste and feel everything thats going on.

The Shack

So this far the author is writing for his friend mack.  Macks daughter was kidnapped and murdered while camping, and they found her body in "the shack". This was a really emotional part because Mack left her there while trying to help his son. A while later he recieves a a letter in the mail from a guy named "papa" telling mack to meet him in the shack. The name papa is significant because thats what macks wife nan calls God. So hes really shaken up about it. However, there is something in the back of his mind that wants to know who this papa is and why he told him to meet him in the shack. He has an internal battle thinking that maybe he could find closure of some sort.

The Shack by WM. Paul Young

Well, I am reading The Shack, Eat Pray Love, and some other book that I have yet to figure out. I have chosen the theme of spirtuality. The Shack is about how a man deals with his daughter being murdered, and apparently recieves a note from God asking him to go back to where she was murdered (a shack). I have only read the beginning so I am not that far into it.
In the beginning the story introduces the narrator, the author, and the main character, his friend, Mackensie Allen Philips. The author builds up a backround about Mackensie (who is referred to as Allen or Mack) and explains his story. Allen is brought up with an "overly strict chruch-elder father" who was an alcoholic and he abusive to the family. In this story it explains that Allen lights up at the topic of religion but was not a very religious person. The author explains that he has a "love-hate" relationship with God.
The author and the main character are very close friends and understand each other. The point of view of the story is from Allen's friend. This makes it honest and explains how other people look at him. If it was in first person it might not have the same effect of truth. I'm predicting it will get very difficult to read when it explains the murder because we really get to know and like the main character.  However, I am hoping that it will explain the grieving process through spirtuality and become easier to read as well as inspirational.