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sistermagpie 's review for:
The Exorcist
by William Peter Blatty
I read this book years ago and after reading "The Case Against Satan" it occurred to me to read it again. Despite being in sixth grade so 11 years old the last time I read it, I found a lot of specific lines in it stuck with me, probably because some of the concepts were things I'd never heard of between them. The writing does have some great imagery. Sometimes it's melodramatic, but if there's a story where that would be fitting, this would be it.
One thing that really struck me was a certain way the book is dated in ways the movie avoided. Through most of the book psychiatrist priest Damien Karas is seeking things he can use to make the church allow him to perform an exorcism (speaking in unknown languages, gift of prophecy etc.) while he himself still thinks this might be psychological. So many times he'll consider signs of supernatural power at work and argue to himself that these powers might not be demonic in nature--ESP, telekinesis and telepathy are supposed to come from the body, not the devil.
What's funny is how confidently Karas refers to these things as settled science, casually mentioning how something like ESP or telekinesis can no longer be seriously questioned because it been observed and filmed by so many reputable doctors etc. Something that it seemed like people were saying back in the early 70s, but it's kind of funny reading it in the book. Karas could just as easily give these phenomenon as an alternate theory without presenting it as settled science. It just feels very 70s that he does.
Still, the book's really well-paced. Even though you know that the devil is at work it's still pretty gripping watching everything ramp up and figured out. Still holds up!
One thing that really struck me was a certain way the book is dated in ways the movie avoided. Through most of the book psychiatrist priest Damien Karas is seeking things he can use to make the church allow him to perform an exorcism (speaking in unknown languages, gift of prophecy etc.) while he himself still thinks this might be psychological. So many times he'll consider signs of supernatural power at work and argue to himself that these powers might not be demonic in nature--ESP, telekinesis and telepathy are supposed to come from the body, not the devil.
What's funny is how confidently Karas refers to these things as settled science, casually mentioning how something like ESP or telekinesis can no longer be seriously questioned because it been observed and filmed by so many reputable doctors etc. Something that it seemed like people were saying back in the early 70s, but it's kind of funny reading it in the book. Karas could just as easily give these phenomenon as an alternate theory without presenting it as settled science. It just feels very 70s that he does.
Still, the book's really well-paced. Even though you know that the devil is at work it's still pretty gripping watching everything ramp up and figured out. Still holds up!