The Shack is the tale of Mackenzie Allen Phillips (a.k.a. “Mack”), a somewhat normal guy, who is asked by God to return to a shack in the forest where one of his daughters was brutally murdered. While there, God in all His/Her glory and personages converses with Mack, showing him the many things that he has misunderstood.

In this blog, I like to think about writing. When I think about The Shack and writing, my thoughts aren’t good.

First of all, the chapter titles are too cutesy and only tangentially related to what’s in the chapter. A scene that occurs around breakfast is called “Breakfast of Champions”, but not much of this scene has to do with “champions.” This is just one minor example, but it is something that started to get on my nerves as the pages wore on.

Second, the first 80 pages are entirely too long and unnecessary. As I read it, I had several thoughts, allow me to share a few with you:

• The author must be trying to get this novel up to a minimum length. This stuff is unnecessary and long-winded.
• The author is not confident in his writing skills.
• The author does not know what’s important.

Honestly, it was painful. I got the sense that Mr. Young was just trying to stretch this thing out so that it would be of a normal novel length. In so doing, there was some crazy word choice. At one point, Mack sits down to watch television. Nowhere do you see the words “TV” or “television.” Instead, Mr. Young has chosen “media tube.” Totally unnatural. In the end, as a reader, I just didn’t feel like I was in good hands.

The book does lurch past these difficult opening scenes. Once Mack makes it out to the shack (about 1/3 of the way through the novel), things pick up and become more interesting. Still, there are some inconsistencies. For example, one of the persons of God is represented by a black woman. Throughout her extended conversations with Mack, her speech fades in and out of colloquialism making me wonder: “Why can’t God stay in character?”

Beyond that, though, The Shack does present an interesting take on the Trinity and interesting ideas about how humans live with each other and with God. For this, and in spite of its poor start and tendency towards emotional cheese, it is probably worth reading.

However, the whole thing is cheapened by the final page of my copy which talks about “The Missy Project.” The Missy Project is a promotional tool that encourages you to write reviews of, promote, and hand out copies of The Shack. If I picked up some novel by Michael Chabon or Umberto Eco, and I saw this, I’d be disgusted. You would be too. Look, Mr. Young, if your book is good enough then people will tell others about it. If it’s not, then they won’t. Just because it is “christian” in nature doesn’t mean it’s okay to shamelessly self-promote. Whatever your intentions, it wreaks of money-grubbing.

Finally, a note on “heresy.” Mr. Young has caused a lot of controversy with the publication of this novel. A lot of people are up in arms about the theology that is presented therein. Ultimately, as I read it, I kept thinking: I’m glad there is a bunch of hoopla over some of this stuff…American Christians need to be confronted with their stereotypes. Do I agree fully with Mr. Young’s take on things? No. But, I think we’d agree on the biggies (e.g., God saved us, breaking our bondage to sin and death through Jesus’s salvific work on the Cross). Let’s agree on the biggies and not sweat the small stuff. I’ll get off my soapbox now…

UPDATE: For a well-reasoned, balanced, humble look at many of the issues involved with The Shack, see the following posts by Regent College’s Professor John Stackhouse:

1. In Defense of Ideological Fiction
2. Some Theological Concerns (Part 1)
3. Some Theological Concerns (Part 2)
4. Some Celebrations

Unfortunately, I had to give my copy back, but I am sure that I will be picking up my own at some point so that I can re-read it again. As I write this, I must ask myself: “Why the heck would you re-read something so horrific?” Again, it demands to be read…

Set in some post-apocalyptic future Hell, The Road is the tale of a man and his child traveling south through the (nuclear?) winter to find warmer climes. From the outset, the mood is dark and foreboding. While an early flashback whispers of lost utopia, it is almost the only hint of normalcy that you’ll find in this taut page turner. Instead of focusing on paradise lost, McCarthy chooses to focus on the present. How do our travelers find food, shelter, warmth in their increasingly hostile environs?

As I said above, there are points in the story that literally made me feel sick. However, the grotesque is not here presented merely for the grotesque’s sake, but serves the larger whole:

• (a) it shows us the ability of the human spirit to endure (though the reasons for this endurance vary and are questioned)
• (b) it horrifies us, perhaps as a warning against allowing the state of things to slip into this sort of Hell

The style, at first, seems self-aware. McCarthy has eschewed grammatical conventions like normal paragraphs and punctuations. You won’t find any chapters in this novel either. Each scene bleeds into the next by the use of paragraphs offset from each other by a blank line. It’s difficult to read at first. Items flow together. You always have to think about who is speaking a given line (“he said” doesn’t mean much when the two main characters are nameless and male). By the middle portions of the novel, however, I forgot all about these quirks and eccentricities. Instead, I was just blazing through wondering what would happen next. It is to McCarthy’s credit that he abandoned grammatical conventions here. It slows us down a bit, which is a good thing, as The Road is meant to be savored and enjoyed. Still, it’s the sort of read that you’ll probably finish up in a couple of sittings.

Overall, The Road is a touching sort of buddy narrative unlike any other. The relationship between the father and child, the way they speak to each other, is at once real and foreign. For this relationship alone, and the ability of its narrative to keep you pressing forward, The Road is highly recommended. Yet, in its warnings and meditations on humanity, The Road becomes so much more.

Is this my favorite novel? Perhaps. I’d have to think about it…but it’s definitely way up there on the list.

This is my review from Goodreads.

The back of this book contains a “PS” section with info about the author and a short interview. In this interview, Chabon defends genre fiction (there is also a list of his favorite genre fiction writers; Raymond Chandler tops that list). I am inclined to agree with Chabon that there is nothing particularly extra good about “literary” fiction that warrants it being placed over and above “genre” fiction.

Because of all of this, I had expected this book to read like a “genre” work — specifically, like a Sherlock Holmes story. It doesn’t.

Michael Chabon is a gifted writer, but The Final Solution: A Story of Detection isn’t anything too special.

What I appreciate the most about this book is the language. Chabon has a great gift for using words. I was particularly attuned to his use of the passive and other taboo or uncommon constructions. He uses them to great effect. Makes me want to write a vehement defense of the passive! Though, generally speaking, it is a good idea to adhere to the principles of William Strunk, Jr.

The Final Solution is most disappointing in its plot, which is why I say that it does not resemble a work of genre fiction in the way I had expected. Overall, I was a little disappointed in the “mystery” and “sleuth” aspects of the story.

Look, this blog isn’t all fun and games–time for some seriousness!

In 2007, Steve Martin published a sort of memoir, Born Standing Up that chronicles his life as a stage performer. From the magic shops of Disneyland to lonely on-the-road burnout to superstardom in the late 1970s, Martin exercises his hindsight, talking about relationships with family, friends, co-workers, lovers, and the various venues that he called home for so many years.

What I really appreciate about Born Standing Up is the blue collar approach that Martin takes to his art. The book certainly makes his gigantic success (selling out shows with upwards of 20,000 seats!) seem like a flash in the pan (to be followed by a good film career) that came only after hardwork and a little bit of luck. Prior to “making it”, Martin spends years on the road, honing his show, amassing over 4 hours of material (my friends who are comics would say that this is quite a bit!), refining timing and movement. This account (in the chapters “On the Road” and “Breakthrough”) were easily the most enjoyable for me.

I suppose it would be easy to lay back and just give Martin praise. He’s clearly a funny guy, a very clear writer, and a very successful person (at least professionally…which is what this book is about more than anything). At the same time, he was also extremely lucky. At the age of 21 he was writing for a hit TV show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, ostensibly because he had dated the right person (Mitzi Trumbo). While his on-stage act is gaining steam a decade or so later, he is catapulted to huge success by the popularity of Saturday Night Live. Martin acknowledges these events as quite important in his career, but I feel that this was definitely a case of “being in the right place at the right time.”

In terms of writing, Born Standing Up is more than capable. The final chapter begins to feel a bit too nostalgic and sappy, but I’ll forgive Martin this. I am sure it is difficult not to slip into that mode as he blasts through the final stage of his career (film) in order to find some resolution to the strained relationship with his family. Martin’s prose is easy to follow, written, like most of his other works, in a very straightforward style. He has a knack for illustrating his own gags and capturing the silliness of the various eras he is working in (especially when it comes time to talk about “flower power”).

While Born Standing Up is a memoir of his stage-performing career, I personally would like to read a full autobiography. I love Martin’s writing here, and would gladly have sat through a discussion of his current pursuits. While I do not feel that Shopgirl is some great novel, I do feel that Picasso at the Lapin Agile is one great play, and I would have loved to have read more about his work on that particular project.

In the end, I’ve got to give Born Standing Up four out of five stars simply because Martin is clear and evocative, and he happens to hold a place in my heart as the star of some of my favorite films: The Jerk, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Roxanne, to name a few.

Over the last few weeks I’ve started using a web application called Goodreads (here is my profile). Essentially, this is a service that allows you to keep track of what you are reading, have read, or intend to read. Users can swap reviews and even paperbacks! There’s also a nice little Facebook application that ties things together.

Yesterday, salvaged from my junk mail, I found the Goodreads January newsletter. In this particular issue, the good folks at Goodreads gave us a glimpse into what the Goodreads community thought was good — or at least what most people tagged as “read” — in 2007. Here are the two lists that the email contained (with links to Amazon so you can rush out and buy ‘em!):

Goodreads 2007 most-read fiction books

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. The Kite Runner
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
6. The Catcher in the Rye
7. Middlesex
8. The Da Vinci Code
9. Water for Elephants
10. The Great Gatsby

Goodreads 2007 most-read nonfiction books

1. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia
2. The Glass Castle: A Memoir
3. Me Talk Pretty One Day
4. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
5. Running with Scissors: A Memoir
6. Freakonomics Rev Ed: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
7. Into the Wild
8. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
9. The Omnivore’s Dilemma
10. The Year of Magical Thinking

It’s interesting to see some older books on this list (e.g., The Great Gatsby), as well as some books still hanging around (e.g., The Da Vinci Code). In addition to these two lists Goodreads has also put out a list for children’s, classics, history, mystery, philosophy, poetry, romance, and sci-fi.

Sign up for an account and get some reading done!