Rating: 
Summary: The Devil, You Say!
Review: That this book is a clammy chiller is actually incidental to the fact that it is a superior novel exploring faith in crisis. In the course of the story, one girl's horrifying condition forces all who encounter her to confront their own beliefs, and re-examine whatever their faith may be.When adorable pre-adolescent Regan McNeill begins exhibiting multiple personalities and bizarre physical phenomena truly horrifying to behold, her progressively suffering famous actress mother Chris takes her to a succession of doctors who are unable even to diagnose Regan's condition, let alone treat it. In desperation, Chris turns to a Jesuit psychiatrist, Damien Karras, for an exorcism, but he and the Church have become too modernized to any longer believe in Evil. After Karras does an investigation and becomes convinced Regan's condition is in fact a case of diabolical possession, the Church reluctantly commissions the steadfast Father Merrin to perform the arcane rite, and the ancient conflict of good vs. evil becomes embodied between him and Regan - to the death. Blatty's brilliant book is essentially a Passion Play framed by a police procedural (there is a curious fatality connected to the ailing Regan), and performed as an existential drama. The suffering of Chris and Regan McNeill is palpable and gut-wrenching, and Father Karras' literal wrestling with his own faith is psychologically gripping. The finale is simply not to be forgotten. The whole is so intensely emotionally engaging as to raise The Exorcist to the level of classic literature, a novel far greater than the sum of its parts. This is easily one of the best books I've ever read, and unquestionably one of the most memorable. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Rating:
Summary: Sympathy for the Devil
Review: Much has been said about The Exorcist. Published way back in 1971, Blatty's groundbreaking achievement has endured to this day as one of the scariest books ever written. It is also one of the very few horror books that demands to be read at night. Blatty's masterful depiction of a routine, mundane life being invaded by a supernatural evil is second to none. And what could be more disturbing than the complete corruption of an innocent little girl? Though the demonic possession aspect of the tale is well known, the soul of this book is the priest who is losing his faith. Even in the laughing, taunting face of a demon Father Damien Karras struggles to accept the supernatural. No, you do not have to be a Christian to appreciate what Blatty is trying to do. Indeed, I found the books most enjoyable element in its willingness to draw a line between good and evil. No moral subjectivism here, The Exorcist asks you to fear the darkness -- not embrace it. This highlights one of the big problems with much of todays politically corrected horror fiction: no one wants to define "evil" anymore. Too bad Blatty was never able to follow up The Exorcist with anything else worthy. He's a very good writer: his descriptions, phrasing, narrative structure are as effective as anything Stephen King has written. The Exorcist, simply put, is rewarding. The only challenge it offers is begging you not to think about the film.
Rating:
Summary: Scariest Novel Written to Date
Review: This is one of the scariest novels I have ever read. It will disturb you in more ways than one. When I first picked it up I was not expecting to be so scared. The scenes dealing with the occult are terrifying not to mention Regan's descent into hell. The night I finished reading this I could not sleep well. This is a very powerful book.
Rating: 
Summary: This was the worst book I've read. A complete waste of time.
Review: After seeing the truly terrifying movie, I had to get my hands on the book. All I can really say is, this is truly a terrible piece of work. A complete waste of time. The movie was so powerful and frightening, while the book doesn't even send a chill down your spine.
Rating:
Summary: "Can you help an old altar boy faddah?"
Review: I saw the movie before reading the book at a party. I'll admit, the movie got me thinkin' a bit. The next day, I went out and bought the book at a local Barns n' Nobles store. I started reading as soon as I got in the car, read while in two shoestores, the grocery store, and a video store. I had read sixty pages before even getting home, and I was in a state of "exorsty" (hehe...corny joke).
The book is better than the movie in every since, aside from the fact that seeing the movie helps to better picture the scenes, for Blatty doesn't exactly do a stellar job of creating descriptions. But to get the full effect of "The Exorcist," you've gotta go under the skin of the movie and the book.
The movie made me a little nervous for roughly a day...but the book lingers for about a week or two after reading it, in more than a couple of ways. Generally, the average person will be a little nervous when it's dark or quiet after seeing the movie. After reading the book, you go through it with a highlighter, read it again, make references, question parts of it, and sit thinking for a long while.
To me, the movie version didn't exactly seem like an event which could possibly happen, mainly because of the sometimes laughable special effects (i.e. the scene where Regan's head turns around while Chris is in the room, and there is a longshot that shows her entire body, you notice that her body is just a manequin. That and the poorly done hypnosis scene, along with the comical projectile vomit part, where I laugh every time I see it) The movie goes for shock value and fright, while the book goes for both of those, along with trying to get the reader to think.
While the movie is in no way pathetic, it is nothing next to the novel. I will not however, say that it is a literary masterpiece, 'cause it ain't. Blatty isn't Shakespear, and Disney isn't Da Vinci, and never will be, simply because it isn't meant. Blatty does an excellent job of creating atmosphere, character development, mood, tone, and images. That does not, however, make him a literary great.
The book isn't particularly frightening, and at its core, it isn't meant to be, though it will cause fright anyway. But after reading the novel, there is no way that the movie could stand next to it. The novel has so many great things in it, you wish that it would follow the characters even after the ordeal is over and gone, devil or no devil. Oh...and another thing, in the novel, the demon claims to be just a minor demon, while in the movie, it claims to be the devil himself, and never says otherwise. Quite a big item to mention, eh?
And finally, then ending. Now, everyone will agree that the last fifteen minutes or so of the movie is spectacular. The exorcism in the book however, is something to marvel at (though you don't get the cool Gene Simmons tongue effect). When Karras reads Regan's mother's day poem, and the lines keep coming into his mind as he nears the door and enters the room, your brain is going all over the place, and its not like you're reading, but standing behind Damian. By this time, you're angry at the devil, and would like to royally beat him down, and when Damian see's Merrin dead, you sorta wish you had a devil of your own to lay the smack down on.
Anyway, get the book. Be happy.
Rating:
Summary: This was the Scariest book I've ever read.
Review: I read this book two months ago, I admit the first of it was a little slow but in about pages 20 it starts to pick up, I couldn't put it down! I read it in about 3 days because once I started to read it I couldn't stop reading it! I bought the book because the movie scard the life out of me and I wanted to read the book to see if it would be better, and it was! I recommand this book to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: A parable on the mystery of faith.
Review: William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist is an extrodinary novel of faith lost and recovered, of the power of God rising to conquer when it seemes to be beaten, and of innocence restored. With the story written in in third person omnicient, the reader is able to delve into the very mind and heart of each character. This allows one to "be in another man's shoes," as it were. We become a Jesuit priest, and begin to feel his pain as he struggles with his faith. We become a single mother, as she hopelessly watches the life of her daughter fade within the very grasp of evil. And we become an older warrior, as he fights against an acient evil. The Exorcist is a truly great modern tale of the battle between good and evil. I recomend it to all who believe, or wish to.
Rating:
Summary: Better if not compared to the film...
Review: It seems everyone prefers the novel "The Exorcist" over the movie version. Fair enough, but the movie very faithfully adapts the book and it should not be ignored! People act like the movie is garbage or something when it is one of the greatest movies ever. If you're going to read this book and have seen the movie version, I strongly suggest you try to forget about the movie whilst reading the book so you won't be tempted to compare the two. Unlike the "Harry Potter" movie which adapts its novel "too" faithfully, "The Exorcist" movie adapts its novel faithfully yet expands and, in my opinion, improves upon the story presented in the novel. I think it is criminally unfair that someone would bash the movie version just becuase "it isn't as scary" or "isn't the way they imagined it" from the novel...why can't people just see the movie and the novel as two different mediums? Instead of comparing the two, see how they are different for better or worse for crying out loud, instead of just finishing the book and rushing to the computer to write "the book is soooo much better than the movie!!!" (something I hate hearing becuase of its absurdity).
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly a great horror story but not a great horror novel
Review: I recently reread William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" with an eye towards including it on a required reading list for a class involving horror literature. I decided it against including it for two reasons. First, it is not really a well-written novel. What happens to young Reagan is, without doubt or possible exception, an absolutely riveting story of evil that will affect you no matter what your religious beliefs happen to be. But while it will keep you awake, probably by tying up your stomach in knots, it is not a masterpiece of prose. "The Exorcist" is similar in that regard to Peter Benchley's "Jaws," another great story is not close to being great literature (compare with "Gone With the Wind" or "The Godfather" to see popular novels that are both). Second, the film is sooooooo much better. Whatever shortcomings Blatty displayed in writing the book are nowhere to be seen in his screenplay for the greatest horror film of all time. Compare the crucifix scene in the novel with that in the film and it is not even close in terms of which one burns in your mind forever. It is, quite literally, the most obscene thing I have ever seen in a film given a ferocity well beyond what is on the mere printed page. Reading Blatty's original novel will not really add anything to your enjoyment of the film. In fact, I think reading the novel is more likely to convince you that you too can write a best-selling novel at home in your spare time. But when it comes to horror "literature," Blatty's novel is clearly spicy junk food.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the movie!
Review: Far superior to the movie. Proof possitive that nothing can compete with our own imagination.
|
