3/13/2013
Review of "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty
Hey everybody!! I am feeling pretty darn great at the moment (mostly because "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is on ABC Family right now) because last night I finished what has been labelled the "scariest novel ever written"; William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist".
You probably recognize this rather gruesome image either from the film adaption of the novel or, if you're under the age of twelve, from the Scary Maze Game. (http://www.maniacworld.com/maze_game.htm)
What mother couldn't love a face like this?!
Anyways...
It took me about a week to get through "The Exorcist" which is pretty decently fast for me because I don't have as much time as I would like to set aside for pleasure reading because of all the studying/homework that comes with sophomore year of high school... to be totally honest, I find Chemistry a lot more terrifying than a possessed Regan.
So, back to the review...
Chris MacNeil is a famous film actress that has recently rented a house in Washington D.C. that she moves into with her twelve-year-old daughter Regan, and two Swiss housekeepers; Karl and Willie; to shoot a movie. Chris has recently divorced her husband, who hardly keeps in touch with his daughter following the split. After Regan plays with a Ouija board she finds in the basement, she starts acting different. She spits out obscenities left and right, and her body convulses unpredictably. Countless doctors/psychiatrists visits later, and still the specialists are clueless as to what is wrong with her daughter, Chris MacNeil (a proud atheist) believes Regan to be possessed by some demon based on a book on witchcraft she read... especially after that whole head-turns-around-360-degrees thing... and who could forget that rather unpleasant act that Regan performs with a crucifix...
Some other chilling events are occurring as well, including the homicide of Chris' director and the vandalism of the local church. Who could possibly be responsible for these crimes?! Well Detective Kinderman has some ideas, and Chris panics and seeks out an exorcist, and ends up with Damien Karras--a priest/psychology professor from Georgetown University that is haunted by rather awful problems in his own life, including the recent death of his mother--
--and Father Merrin, an elderly man that has encountered the particular demon (Pazuzu) possessing Regan before. The exorcism scene was well... nail-biting worthy! And that's saying something because I find that to be a rather repulsive habit. The book definitely ended with a creative twist. Overall Rating= 5 stars.
What I Liked:
1. The character development. William P. Blatty gave interesting insight into every character's life, from Chris MacNeil to Damien Karras to even the housekeepers. Each chapter changed P.O.V. which kept me intrigued.
2. The twists and turns! I recently read the horror novel "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin, which was excellent of course, but lacked those shocking OMG moments when you have to reread a single passage multiple times to wrap your brain around the magnitude of what just happened, and it kind of ended with a thud. "The Exorcist" however, kept me guessing until the very end, which was explosive and evoked about a dozen OMG's.
3. Use of vocabulary. Oh my. My oh my oh my. The demon Pazuzu has quite a mouth on him, and provided some comic relief to the story. Obviously the swear words weren't meant to be funny, but I'm not really used to seeing such words in a book (unless it's Stephen King, but his humor's about as dull as dishwater) and provided many "oh-no-he-didn't!" moments.
4. Writing style. It wasn't the complicated, headache-inflicted style of J.R.R. Tolkien, or the simplistic, pitiful writing styles of some authors that shall renamed unnamed... it was perfectly in the middle!
5. The passages at the beginning of my copy of the book that William Peter Blatty included--an account of atrocities committed by the Communists; a taped conversation of two real-life murderers; and a couple references to the Nazi concentration camps. Gives you something to think about, and wonder where evil really does come from.
What I Didn't Like:
1. Burke Dennings, Chris' director. Man was he an irritating character. Rude and obnoxious... in my personal opinion there was a tad too much with him, but his murder made up for it and it made sense that he was popped up so often in the beginning.
And now, as my A.P. World History teacher says, "time to end this conflict".
Thanks for reading my blog!
Stay in school, be a Potterhead, respect the nature, and above all; be your magical self.
P.S. I plan on watching the film adaption in full tomorrow so I'll be posting a review of the movie as well!
So, back to the review...
Chris MacNeil is a famous film actress that has recently rented a house in Washington D.C. that she moves into with her twelve-year-old daughter Regan, and two Swiss housekeepers; Karl and Willie; to shoot a movie. Chris has recently divorced her husband, who hardly keeps in touch with his daughter following the split. After Regan plays with a Ouija board she finds in the basement, she starts acting different. She spits out obscenities left and right, and her body convulses unpredictably. Countless doctors/psychiatrists visits later, and still the specialists are clueless as to what is wrong with her daughter, Chris MacNeil (a proud atheist) believes Regan to be possessed by some demon based on a book on witchcraft she read... especially after that whole head-turns-around-360-degrees thing... and who could forget that rather unpleasant act that Regan performs with a crucifix...
Some other chilling events are occurring as well, including the homicide of Chris' director and the vandalism of the local church. Who could possibly be responsible for these crimes?! Well Detective Kinderman has some ideas, and Chris panics and seeks out an exorcist, and ends up with Damien Karras--a priest/psychology professor from Georgetown University that is haunted by rather awful problems in his own life, including the recent death of his mother--
--and Father Merrin, an elderly man that has encountered the particular demon (Pazuzu) possessing Regan before. The exorcism scene was well... nail-biting worthy! And that's saying something because I find that to be a rather repulsive habit. The book definitely ended with a creative twist. Overall Rating= 5 stars.
What I Liked:
1. The character development. William P. Blatty gave interesting insight into every character's life, from Chris MacNeil to Damien Karras to even the housekeepers. Each chapter changed P.O.V. which kept me intrigued.
2. The twists and turns! I recently read the horror novel "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin, which was excellent of course, but lacked those shocking OMG moments when you have to reread a single passage multiple times to wrap your brain around the magnitude of what just happened, and it kind of ended with a thud. "The Exorcist" however, kept me guessing until the very end, which was explosive and evoked about a dozen OMG's.
3. Use of vocabulary. Oh my. My oh my oh my. The demon Pazuzu has quite a mouth on him, and provided some comic relief to the story. Obviously the swear words weren't meant to be funny, but I'm not really used to seeing such words in a book (unless it's Stephen King, but his humor's about as dull as dishwater) and provided many "oh-no-he-didn't!" moments.
4. Writing style. It wasn't the complicated, headache-inflicted style of J.R.R. Tolkien, or the simplistic, pitiful writing styles of some authors that shall renamed unnamed... it was perfectly in the middle!
5. The passages at the beginning of my copy of the book that William Peter Blatty included--an account of atrocities committed by the Communists; a taped conversation of two real-life murderers; and a couple references to the Nazi concentration camps. Gives you something to think about, and wonder where evil really does come from.
What I Didn't Like:
1. Burke Dennings, Chris' director. Man was he an irritating character. Rude and obnoxious... in my personal opinion there was a tad too much with him, but his murder made up for it and it made sense that he was popped up so often in the beginning.
And now, as my A.P. World History teacher says, "time to end this conflict".
Thanks for reading my blog!
Stay in school, be a Potterhead, respect the nature, and above all; be your magical self.
P.S. I plan on watching the film adaption in full tomorrow so I'll be posting a review of the movie as well!
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