You Don't Know Me

The Shack
Wm. Paul Young
Windblown Media

I was in Minneapolis a few weeks ago having dinner with colleagues and I asked them what they were reading. Both had recently finished The Shack and both mentioned that while the subject matter was quite heavy, they thought the novel to be very uplifting. At the time, I felt like I was in need of some uplifting, so when I got back to the airport, I sought out a copy.

What a mistake! For those of you who haven't heard of it, The Shack is the story of middle-aged man trying to understand how God could let his six year old daughter be abducted and murdered. To work through his anger and his grief, the man returns to the "shack" -- the last known place of his daughter's whereabouts -- to confront God and ask his questions. I probably should have stopped reading once I figured out that God was a black woman named Papa. I kid you not.

When I read the online reviews for this novel, it became evident that the story either really spoke to its audience, or it failed miserably. For me, it certainly didn't answer any questions about why evil exists or even why bad things happen to good people. Then again, maybe I didn't like it because of my "good" Lutheran upbringing. There are some serious doctrinal issues with this text that even I could spot. I think if I'm looking for clear messages about salvation and redemption, I'll stick with my Bible. One faded star out of five.

Who ... Me?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson

Penguin Canada

I’ve been having a tough time trying to find the motivation to write this post. My dad died last week and things just don’t feel quite right. If I were a betting man, I’d say that I’m either going to be reading a tonne over the next few months, or not at all. Whether I will ever feel like writing again … well, that remains to be seen. I guess you will just have to check back every once in awhile to see if I’m still in the game.

So, while we’re here, let’s talk about this week’s book – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I totally picked this novel because of the title (how could I not?) and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. While not exactly a thriller, this book was dark in a way that I totally didn’t expect. The basic plot is simple, but interesting – a forty-something journalist gets hired by a captain of industry to solve the 40 year-old mystery surrounding the disappearance/murder of his favourite niece. The journalist’s cover story is that he is writing a family biography and as such, needs access to everyone and everything related to the clan. The family is, of course, crazier than a troop of baboons and meaner than a pack of hungry jackals. The journalist’s crack researcher – the girl with the dragon tattoo – has a few issues of her own and when the two of them hook up, weird things start to happen.

Considering how crap things have been for me over the past couple of weeks, I’ve got to give Larsson his due. This book managed to both distract and entertain me. Larsson passed away a few years ago, but he actually produced a trilogy that involves both the journalist and the girl. I was intrigued enough by these characters to want to get to know them better. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets three Swedish berries out of five.