William Peter Blatty

The Exorcist

Exorcist

Not entirely the narrative I was expecting but a very pleasant surprise. The dialogue is so natural and characters you genuinely care about.

Joe Mccaffery 

it's very good some details grossed me out and some made me laugh. i really like how it's written! makes me wanna rewatch the movie to see the difference.

Sarah Sammis

I hope I have enough books to make all the trades I want. This book box is packed with goodies! I must admit that I've only seen about 30 minutes of the film. The first 10 minutes was at the McDonalds in Gorman on the I5 in California. The other twenty minutes was last year when I was on maternity leave. And yet, I've read all sorts of essays on it. It's a popular film for film academics. LOL! 

What a day to read the Exorcist. Here's the situation: there are rats making rhythmic pounding in my attic and my son is sick with a stomach flu. It was the perfect (!) atmosphere to read about possession.

Okay so onto the book. I came to it via the film. I've never actually seen the film from start to finish in any one sitting but I think I've seen every scene at least once. The most surreal place I've seen snatches of the Exorcist was at a McDonalds in Gorman in the middle of summer.

Having the book land in my lap via a BookCrossing book box, I knew I had to read it. I actually like the horror genre. Having found the film (in the bits and pieces I've seen) rather hokey, the book was very enjoyable. I liked the ambiguity of the situation. Is Regan possessed? Is she mental ill? Is she angry over her parents' divorce? Is she being manipulated by Karl? The only thing never answered is what does the prologue have to do with the rest of the book? It seems tacked on to give a reason for the possession (if it is possession).

Julie Failde

This was way better than I anticipated it to be. I almost found it more gruesome than the movie, and I as a huge fan of the latter, that's saying a lot. I did listen to this on audiobook, and I think having William Peter Blatty read it made the whole book even better! He did a great job at acting out what he wrote, and listening to a novel narrated by the author is just so fun. 
The actual exorcism only happens in the last bit of the book, but I didn't mind because the build-up was just so fantastic and I don't like I'll ever be able to get over some of the things the demon said while possessing Regan.

Geoffrey Froggatt

This book was fucked up. I really liked how the demon is portrayed in this novel, it was so sinister and insidious. The helplessness Chris felt as a mother is palpable. I could really feel how badly she wanted to save her daughter from the possession. This book made me appreciate the movie adaptation and the translation from book to movie. While I loved many parts of this novel, it did take a long time to get to the actual exorcism. This makes sense in the novel however, as Chris has to jump through many hoops before anyone believes her daughter’s need for an exorcism. This novel won’t be giving me nightmares but it sure was disturbing.

jess larry

2 for the plot, 2 for the incredible narration

it genuinely felt like i was watching a movie, thats how immersive the writting is

there were a lot of unnecessary parts tho, and that ending is not my favorite

but i still enjoyed the reading experience, especially the tense atmosphere

Blatty se baso, para crear a su protagonista, en un hecho real ocurrido en la década de los cuarenta. Una niña de apenas once años sufre terribles transformaciones, sobre todo en su comportamiento. Ni médicos ni científicos ni psicólogos serán capaces de hallar la causa de tal estado y paulatinamente todo irá apuntando hacia la hipótesis de que la niña está poseída por el demonio.

El exorcista

Brian

Vivir linea a linea la posesión y la lucha contra el mal ha sido una experiencia hermosamente aterradora.

Katie Roberts

Some parts can be quite disturbing ahha



marie

this book is dark, chilling, genuinely terrifying, yet hopeful and kind, and it has a hot priest — what’s not to love!

Lacy W

tw: sexism, homophobia, anti semitism, use of the word f**got

 3.5 stars!

I did it! I read the book that is based on one of my boyfriend's favorite movies. Holy cow, do I feel proud of myself. That being said, this was...certainly a different book and I have some thoughts. 

Okay, maybe I have been spoiled by demon possession movies but this wasn't scary like I thought it was going to be. I'm trying to keep in mind that this book was written in the 70's so back then, it would have been absolutely terrifying. But I wasn't super terrified. I was more or less nervous for Regan. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her or her family. I think the feeling I was feeling was dread. Pure straight dread. 

But besides the lack of scare factor, this book was good. It was written so weirdly though. It was very stattico like. Random cut off sentences and weird thoughts coming from the MCs. It was almost off putting but I must appreciate how unusual it was. Certainly quite a risk. It almost worked for the way the story progressed. 

I think my main problem with this book is I didn't get a chance to know Regan. After all, she was the one that was possessed. I got to learn about her through the eyes of Chris, her mom. Had Blatty written this with Regan's POV, it would have been a lot more scary. It would have been horrifying. 

Overall, I ain't mad. This book is a classic and it spawned a good movie (well 4 (four) movies I believe, but I've only seen the first one) and a fantastic TV show (this is now cancelled. #SaveTheExorcist) I was the inspiration for hundreds of possession movies, I'm sure. WIlliam Peter Blatty is a master of his craft, there is not doubt about that.

Beatriz Aguiar

Sade A

At a complete loss for words. When you read books like this you get a sense of why it's referred to as a classic.

The Exorcist is a compelling tale of demonic possesion of a young girl and the priests who fight for her life and Blatty was so vivid with this tale it was unreal. side note: I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me before, but it struck me that this book was less about the possesion and more about the priests (I know it's in the title but still...it just goes over your head)
Given that this book was released a long ass time ago, i'm especially grateful that the author was responsible? in writing this book (Basically cover all medical grounds), this was an especially HUGE plus for me especially as there are so many religious people who are more than willing to eschew medical advice simply because, religion.

Anyways personal issues aside, this book is truly a vivid and electricifying tale that inspite of all the years has not lost it's ability to captivate.

Read it if you haven't. 
p.p.s: Don't play with ouija boards....

Gayathri Jinesh

Horror must be the genre that gets outdated the quickest.
And this story is more than 50 years old.
This didn't scare me in the least. I don't know if it's empathy or imagination that I'm lacking. I fail to understand the scope of horror novels. I haven't read many of them, so it might be too early to judge.

A popular actress' daughter starts showing signs of demonic possession; doctors and priests take turns trying to find a cure. A murder or two to complicate it further.

1.There is a buildup to the revelation of the supernatural, which any reader would catch up on; like the beginning of a familiar song. The noises in the attic, the chill in the nape of the neck, a cold draught air. Same old same old.

2.There is the confusion ensuing, as to what box to check, science or paranormal.
This was funny, whether it was intended to be or not I'm not sure.

The girl rises above the bed, almost a foot, jerks in the air, spins like a top, arches with toes touching her forehead and falls back. And one doctor asks the other after around a 2 page description of similar stuff. 

"I tHInk sHe cOnvULseD, don't you?" 
"Yes, I think so"

Then comes the priest who can't make up his mind; with demons of his own.

3.Followed by acceptance and resolution.
Assisted by the deus ex machina priest who comes to meet his long lost friend.

I only have a distant memory of watching the movie years back and had forgotten the plot points. So it was pretty new to me. I might read this again, not for the element of horror, but the writing style. 

There is a specific mood to the story that changes along the course of it. 
The initial surprise/horror gives way to an emptiness and weariness in every character in the story, without forgoing the uniqueness of each of them. It doesn't feel like the author just conjured up 'a priest', 'a police officer' or 'a manservant', for the sake of it. All of them though not contributing much to the course of the plot, have distinct personalities that are somehow peculiar and likable.

Ah! The flitting thoughts. From the weariness and despair that has consumed our characters, there are moments of escape; often by some idyllic scene as a simile.

  "The psychiatrist seemed to be choosing his words as carefully as flat, round stones to skim over a pond"

It's like the other-worldly feeling at the top of the swing, right before you fall back to reality.


  "......he ran back through Regan's symptoms, touching each like a schoolboy making sure that he taps every slat as he walks along a white picket fence"


And at times poetic


  "He sat on the cot and drank in darkness. Wet came the tears. They would not cease. This was like childhood, this grief."


I wish the origin of the villain was better elaborated. And it would be nice if the plot wasn't obvious from a mile away too. 
 
Nevertheless, it's a timeless classic. You won't be disappointed unless you expect to be scared. So much for "the greatest horror story of all time". Or was that the movie?

Mary Garza

caroline

Madhuri Sridhara

3.5 Stars.

If this was an intriguing page-turner in 2017, I'm sure it was a great pioneer to the horror genre 46 years ago.

Birta Ösp

A masterwork of horror and wisdom. The author dives deep into the workings of the human mind and body and how we can turn against ourselves without even knowing it.

Amy Maddess

A bit of a slow burn, but worth the wait for iconic moments.

The exorcist

Karla 

Este libro me encantó y me sorprendió. Me encantó como la mayor parte del libro es la búsqueda de explicación científica de lo que le pasa a la pobre niña. Aprendí muchísimo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbe4-...

Four decades after it first shook the nation, then the world, William Peter Blatty’s thrilling masterwork of faith and demonic possession returns in an even more powerful form. Raw and profane, shocking and blood-chilling, it remains a modern parable of good and evil and perhaps the most terrifying novel ever written.

40th Anniversary Edition

Sophia De La Garza

This book took me by pleasant surprise. I am an avid fan of the iconic film and wanted to read the source material to further my experience. 

I have to say if you're intimidated by this book, there is no need. The language is easy to understand and the characters are interesting. The only issue I had was a lot of the information in regards to Religion, though that is needed as the exorcism is a religion based solution to possession. 

But yeah, I enjoyed this more than I was expecting and it was a fun yet disturbing read. Overall, 4 stars.

Emir Andrés Ibañez

Este es el primer libro que he leído en mi vida que me causó miedo de verdad. No ese miedo que te generan las películas de terror de hacerte dar un salto, ahogar un grito o taparte la cara, sino un miedo que se te instala en la cabeza, en tu psiquis y que se queda con vos durante un par de días, hasta que lo digerís y finalmente lo dejas ir.

Estuve mucho tiempo posponiéndolo, porque he visto la película muchas veces y no era la gran cosa. Me generó asco más que "miedo" propiamente dicho, creo que en parte fue porque vi el making off antes de verla por primera vez y eso ya hizo que cualquier cuota de miedo que la película pudiera proporcionarme se viera disminuída. Pero sabía que todo el hype de la película estaba rodeada por todo el hype que había alrededor del libro y tenía miedo de comerme un garrón, porque soy medio reacio a las novelas viejas.
Así que lo fui procrastinando hasta que me surgió un viaje de imprevisto y lo agarré al azar. La edición era muy viejita, en plan: primera edición, hojas amarillas y muy frágil. Creo que esto fue lo que lo hizo más significativo, le dio otro "toque".
El prólogo fue algo que no me lo vi venir, fue muy onírico, la prosa muy poética para la atmósfera creepy que me estaba anunciando, y fue allí cuando tuve que incorporarme cual revelación y decir: bueno, William, ya me enganchaste, no la cagues por favor.
Y no me decepcionó.
La novela comienza muy amena, el estilo de Blatty es muy placentero de leer, los diálogos entre Regan y Chris eran demasiaso cursis y dramáticos pero asumo que fue error de la traducción, pero a medida que avanza la historia se pierde ese defecto para dar paso a conversaciones muy bien logradas y bien ubicadas, no entre ellas, pero si con el resto de los personajes.
Los personajes no son LA creación literaria pero me gusta el papel que cada uno tiene, son demasiado importantes individualmente, entre mis favoritos están el detective Kinderman, el director de cine Burke y, por supuesto, el padre Karras que está muy bien construído. El resto tienen lo suyo, pero no fueron tan relevantes para mi.
Toda la información psiquiátrica, psicológica y teológica que brinda este libro es fabulosa. Te informa mucho, juega todo el tiempo con la veracidad o falsedad del exorcismo, te da todas las opciones para que creas lo que quieras creer, y al final del libro te deja con la duda de si fue real, si fue un problema psiquiátrico, si de verdad existen los demonios que pueden poseer cuerpos... y creo que al fin y al cabo es eso lo que termina generándote miedo. El juego constante con tu cabeza sobre qué creer o no, ambos dan miedo.
Además la atmósfera es demasiado sofocante, fría y oscura.
Creo que la novela se merece el hype que tiene, la película estuvo muy bien adaptada - eso me sorprendió - pero lo que hizo que me resultara tan indiferente fue que obviaron reflexiones internas de los personajes y todo el rollo psiquiátrico que se muestra muy por encima y la exageración de Regan poseída.
Es un libro que, de acá a unos años, seguramente releeré. No es largo, no es complicado de seguir, se disfruta mucho y te deja pensando.
Tengo en mente leer la secuela, aunque he leído críticas muy malas. No importa. Me quedé con ganas de saber más. Además, el investigador Kinderman está en ese libro! :D

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Patti Reinheimer

Terrifying. I read this book when I was living alone and had to stop about 2/3 of the way through and go over to a friend’s house in the middle of the night to finish it.

I've been a fan of the movie for years, but have never read the book before now!

I found it was slow to start, and I didn't totally care about the Prologue (I don't really care about it in the movie either tbh) or Karras' background. I was much more interested in Regan's symptoms and the events in the house. It took awhile to get going, but once it got going, it got GOOD. However, I was surprised at how late into the book Merrin showed up. The exorcism scenes were a lot shorter than I expected. It's been awhile since I watched the movie, but I feel like those scenes make up more of the movie than they do the book. I could be wrong though.

One of the annoyances I had w/ the book is Kinderman's character; I found him obnoxious and his dialogue was incredibly tedious because he could never get to the damn point! I get that it was purposeful, but it didn't seem to have any real reason. I also wasn't a fan of the liberal use of the c word (especially used as an adjective like "cunting"), it was just unnecessary.

Despite that, it's easy to see why the book is a classic! It was certainly groundbreaking when it was published and it's still considered one of the greatest horror novels, so I'm glad I read it.

The Exorcist

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