Reviews

The Ninth Configuration by Mark Kermode, William Peter Blatty

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billymac1962's review

4.0

This was a very quick read from the man who gave us The Exorcist.
It was pretty good, although I feel it could have been more fleshed out
as far as characterization was concerned.
There were several characters that flitted in an out of the story that
I would have liked to have known better. Psychologically damaged
characters are invariably the best on paper.

One page in particular very much moved me, and this is why I'm rating
this book 4 stars instead of 3. It is where Kane explains his belief of an afterlife: how Nature couldn't possibly deny fulfillment of the universal craving for happiness.

Any novel that makes me dog-ear a page for future reference is certainly worth my time.

keither909's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

bstanwyck's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

3.0

The movie > the book

jamesknight's review against another edition

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5.0

Blatty will never escape his Exorcist fame but the little known and hard to find Ninth Configuration will always stand as his finest work. All at once hilarious, horrifying, and tragic. It is a meditation on God and perhaps more on the complexity of humanity and the line walked between good and evil.

kurtwombat's review against another edition

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3.0

With dark and moody anticipation, I pulled open the covers of this book. But almost immediately, I realized I had to adjust my hopes. An intriguing mystery is set up that is quickly abandoned and almost never referred to again. This mystery is only the reason why all the characters are in one place and why each one of their lives has been derailed—so why should that be considered important. A case could be made that a touch of Divinity did away with such mysteries. That rings hollow when the sacrifice made is more self-serving than self-sacrificing. There is a real mystery that evolves amidst the chaos involving Colonel Kane that engrosses and involves. And there is a wallop of a scene at the end of the book but it only made me look over my shoulders at the previous pages and wonder what that was all about. Written like a play, there is a plenty of good dialogue—I had trouble keeping the characters apart because they are all over the top insane. As a play or movie (and there is one) having faces attached would help. The book is so short, it begs for more fat. Feels like the author was so sure of the point he was making, he didn’t feel the need to make space for the reader. Setting and atmosphere could have been worked to greater affect (how could you not better use a castle where it is always storming)—let alone character development. (For an example of a setting not being wasted, read THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson—one of the best books ever written.) An interesting missed opportunity.