Categories: uncategorized
Date: 01 January 2009 17:26:16
If 4 people in 11 days ask you what you think of a book you've never previously heard of and the final person gives you a copy when you say, "never read it" then you give it a try. So it was that New Year's day has been spent reading The Shack by W M Paul Young.
It's a 248 page novel which sounded distinctly unappealing from the synopsis. First off I don't do thrillers and this is a book stemming from a child abduction. Secondly, the American religious fiction popularising theology makes me think "Left Behind". So was it as awful as I was expecting? No and sort of.
First the positives: the popular theology is, with the odd exception, quite "good", (that is I personally happen to agree with it). The plot whilst not wonderfully written isn't too bad.
The not so positives: The writers tell you at the end, in the acknowledgements and in the blurb on "The Missy Project", they want this turned into a film. No surprise then it read far too much like a screen play and not enough like a novel. It also probably explains why one character representation reminds me so much of Queen Latifah it becomes off putting. At times it also reads an ickle bit too much like a tract. Finally the way the book ends worries me. I'm not talking about the end of the plot but the marketing strategy promoted after the stories final full stop.
I accept that word of mouth and an internet buzz maketh the book and the movie deal these days. I also acknowledge it will make a good film. Finally I understand it can be seen as an interesting, contemporary way to start discussion on life, death and the universe (i.e. God and the gospel). BUT I find the aggressive marketing approach employed totally at odds with the theology the book is promoting. The book is about wrestling with God, relationship with God, and wonder at stumbling upon the mystery of God within art, culture and nature - beyond the religious / secular divide. The pre-packaged marketing strategy attempts to straightforwardly make a hit which sells God to people whilst making money. Thus the "Missy Project" is old skool capitalist evangelism through modern spirituality and marketing. (Apologies links aren't in the main text - on a friends computer and can't quite get used to it. http://theshackbook.com/ gives you a link to the book site and The Missy Project).