This is one of those books that, when you finish it, you wonder if the good guys actually won. I had seen the film version a couple times before reading this book, but it had been years. So I really felt like I was going in fresh. Let’s just say that the title is a little misleading given that the eponymous character doesn’t really show up until the last couple chapters (his appearance in the prologue notwithstanding). A more appropriate title might be “666 Reasons Why Children Are Creepy as Hell” or something of that nature. I guess history will have to be the judge of which title is better…
The Exorcist
Author: William Peter Blatty
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Published: May 1, 1971
Publisher: Harper
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: January 24, 2024
My rating: 
Synopsis
In northern Iraq, a semi-retired priest is now an archaeologist. More on him later.
Actress Chris MacNeil and her 12-year-old daughter Regan are in Washington D.C. for the filming of a movie. For some reason, Regan starts showing signs of a pretty bad case of something. Chris consults as many doctors as she can. Which is a lot given that she’s a famous actress. She also consults a ton of psychiatrists. No one knows what to do with Regan.
Meanwhile, things with Regan are getting worse. Her bed shakes, her furniture moves, and she continuously soils her bedsheets. Oh, and it seems like she’s speaking in other languages now too.
Chris and Regan just happen to live pretty much across the street from a Jesuit residence. She’s familiar with a couple of the priests there and convinces Father Karras, a psychiatrist himself, to come look at Regan. Soon enough, Karras is pretty sure that Regan is possessed. But he needs proof in order to convince the Church to allow him to perform an exorcism of the young girl.
There’s also a murder investigation where everyone’s a suspect. But we all know Regan did it. I’m pretty sure the detective knows too, but has to keep up pretenses.
And there’s enough sexual acts and profanity coming from this little girl that you’ll probably be looking over your shoulder to make sure Jesus doesn’t see what you’re reading.
And that’s about it.
Oh wait, the exorcism. So the guy from the beginning of the book comes back, starts the exorcism, but then dies of a heart attack in the middle of it. Karras ends up, how shall I put it, handling it himself.
Thoughts
Let me start off by saying, wow. What a book.
As I write this, it’s been a couple weeks since I finished reading the book, and it’s stayed with me. In a good way. I’m not still creeped out by the acts of that little girl or anything… okay, maybe a little creeped out.
The overall story was pretty familiar to me as I started reading. Although it had been years since I’d seen the movie, I was familiar enough with it that it made it easy to picture the characters and hear their voices. But I really don’t think I would have needed to have seen the movie first anyway.
The characters were really well drawn out. Each of them had their own personality and I’d have a hard time saying there were any flat or ill-used characters. Maybe Karl and Willie. But they had to wash all the soiled bedsheets. Ew…
Funny enough, I really didn’t like Chris all that much. Sure, she’s a single-mom, stressed about her current job as well as her career. But she’s got a couple housekeepers that she orders around like they’re slaves as well as a nanny that she’s not always super nice too. I get it – the things that are happening to her daughter in this book are horrific. But she takes it out on literally everyone.
I liked Karras a lot. He really felt like a priest who was questioning his faith. In the end, it was almost his faith, even if just his faith in humanity, that saves the day.
The detective, Kinderman, was an interesting fellow. I never quite knew what he was trying to do. He sometimes felt silly and bad at his job. But other times (most of the time), it seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing.
Overall, the story’s pace was good, the characters felt real, and the plot was riveting.
Conclusion
Although I finished reading this in January, I can already tell that this will be one of my favorite books of the year. It’s one of those books that was hard to put down. Even having seen the movie before, I couldn’t help but continue to turn the pages and “just one more chapter” it until I was done. This was an easy 5 stars for me!
