"She needs a priest . . . I've taken her to every goddamn, fucking doctor, psychiatrist in the world and they sent me to you; now you send me to them! Jesus Christ, won't somebody help me?"
In Georgetown, 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, the daughter of an actress, is demonically possessed. Following a battery of psychological and neurological tests that yield no explanation or cure, her mother Chris MacNeil (who is an atheist) turns to a priest in a last-ditch, desperate attempt to help her daughter. Father Damien Karras, however, is struggling with his own issues, namely his lack of faith. A former psychiatrist, Karras is skeptical, until foolproof evidence of the girl's possession comes to the surface. In the meantime, Det. Kinderman is investigating a series of strange events surrounding a murder that may be tied to the goings-on in the MacNeil household. One Father Lancaster Merrin, who has battled the demon once before, is called upon to assist Karras in performing one last exorcist . . . and so the battle for a child's immortal soul begins . . .
Right up until the very end, readers can be rendered doubtful. Was the girl really possessed? Was it autosuggestion brought on by the child's reading of a book on witchcraft? Or was it just an extra nasty case of psychosis brought on by severe depression? With a chock full of hints, clues and insinuations, Blatty ultimately leaves it up to the reader to figure it out. Based on the true account of a 14-year-old demonically possessed Mount Rainier boy in the early '40s, this book is far more superior to the actual movie. If you haven't read it, you should, and then see the movie afterwards. Then and only then will you realize just how great the movie version of The Exorcist could have been. A powerful, classic work of literature concerning religion, the tests of faith and the lack thereof.
The Wizzard of Jacksonville - 2008-08-08 00:10:36
A truly awful book. First, Blatty couldn't seem to quite make up his mind whether he was writing supernatural horror or psychological thriller. He began and ended the book with scenes that suggested an actual demon involved in the mayhem, but the body of the book reads more like a psychological analysis of a very disturbed young woman and the equally disturbed priest who tried and failed to help her. He should have been trained in psychoanalysis for that job. In addition, I couldn't see anything original about the case of "possession" to begin with; all Blatty seemed to do was to rehash case histories from the Middle Ages, with no original insights to offer. Furthermore, it was truly a downer to present a priest so incompetent, he couldn't even handle a simple demon. It ain't that hard, folks, you banish, they vanish. If you can't handle even that simple an operation, you have no damn business in the priesthood to begin with.
With love under will,
Bob, aka Adastra,
The Wizzard of Jacksonville
Viewer Comments
Add a Comment