The Exorcist (1971) Novel Review

     I was a preteen when I witnessed the film The Exorcist for the first time.  My older sister convinced me to watch it at the rental store during our visit at our Father’s home shortly after our parents separated.  We had successfully used our Ouija board around the same time we watched it together, so the ideas that evil spirits were real had already become a reality to us.  But before I get into that story, let me do a review of the book first.

    I had purchased an early hardcover edition of the novel while I was working in the supposedly haunted Night Owl Confectionary on Fairlight Drive in Saskatoon.  I experienced one or two strange occurrences, such as seeing a person walking in with someone and suddenly realizing there was only one customer in the store…  I worked the night-shift there for a year or so and when the slow hours of the night came, I sat on the stool at the cash register and read the novel.

     The book details the demonic possession of twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil, the daughter of a famous actress, and the two priests who attempt to exorcise the demon.  Published by Harper & Row, the novel was the basis of a highly successful film adaption released two years later, whose screenplay was also written by William Peter Blatty, and part of The Exorcist franchise.

     The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University.  As a result, the novel takes place in Washington, D.C., near the campus of Georgetown University.  In September 2011, the novel was reprinted by Harper Collins to celebrate its fortieth anniversary, with slight revisions made by Blatty as well as interior title artwork by Jeremy Caniglia.

     The novel was published in 1971 by William Peter Blatty after he submitted it to William Friedkin as a screenplay, but Friedkin originally turned the idea down because he didn’t think people were ready to see such a horrifying film.  However when Blatty’s novel version of the screenplay became a New York Times Bestseller, Friedkin felt that he had no choice but to go ahead with the production of the feature film which followed.  Aspects of the character Father Merrin were based on the British archaeologist Gerald Lankester Harding, who had excavated the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls had been found and whom Blatty had met in Beirut.  Blatty has stated that Harding "was the physical model in my mind when I created the character (of Merrin), whose first name, please note, is Lankester."  Aspects of the novel were inspired by an exorcism performed by the Jesuit priest, Fr. William S. Bowdern, who formerly taught at both St. Louis University and St. Louis University High School.

     Recent investigative research by freelance journalist Mark Opsasnick indicates that Blatty's novel was based the exorcism of a young boy from Cottage City, Maryland, whom Opsasnick refers to using the pseudonyms Robbie Mannheim and Roland Doe.  The boy was sent to his relative's home on Roanoke Drive in St. Louis where most of the exorcism took place.  Blatty refers to the Loudun possessions and the Louviers possessions throughout the story, mostly when Fr. Karras is researching possession and exorcism to present the case to his superiors.  He also has one of his characters tell a brief story about an unnamed fraudulent Spiritualist medium who had studied to be a Jesuit priest.  This story can be found in Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 114. 1930, in an article about fraudulent practices by Daniel Dunglas Home.

     Reading the book after watching the film first, was very intriguing because it was like seeing an extended version of the film in my head.  Whereas Regan’s use of the Ouija board was quite brief in the film, in the book we discover more of Regan’s progression with her use of the board.  Until finally she didn’t need the board, and she could be heard talking to Captain Howdy in her room by Sharon, her nanny.  There’s also a character in the book who had no lines in the film, however was shown for a brief moment during Chris MacNeil’s party.  This was her psychic friend Mary Joe, who is seen sitting with Chris and Fr. Dier, but her lines had been cut from the film.  Chris and Mary Joe discuss Regan’s use of the Ouija board and Mary Joe later leaves a book of witchcraft on Chris’s doorstep.  Later on the book is found in Regan’s room, which has the reader questioning whether Regan got some ideas from the book or is genuinely possessed.

     There are also parts of the book which were too graphic to have in the movie.  Whereas Regan is shown in the film vomiting excessively on people, hacking up phlegm on them and urinating on the floor, in the novel she also has putrid moments with fecal matter.  Obviously such a film may not have been released with all intended parts of the original screenplay.  One part I specifically remember because of how disturbed I was, was during the exorcism.  Regan stands up and releases her bowls all over the bed, while the author didn’t hold back on describing the wet foul mess which Sharon runs in to clean up by removing the sheets.

     While the book is far more disturbing than the film, there is also a moment of spiritual discussion with Fr. Dier after Regan's ordeal has come to an end.  It’s a revealing that Chris is not sure what she has seen, but comments that she thinks that maybe we can only see God through the evil in the world.  Whereas Fr. Dier has a profound moment of inspiration with Chris, revealing to her the notion that people mostly take the good things in which we can see God through for granted.  Leaving this part of the book out of the film really upset Blatty, however Friedkin’s director’s cut did a small amount of justice at the end.

    The book reads like a movie because as I mentioned it was a screenplay originally, thus it’s not as challenging as other books like some of Stephen King’s monstrous novels.  Nothing against Stephen King, but I stopped reading “It” shortly after the character Mike’s racing thoughts before his decision to contact his childhood friends for help.  That one really tested my patience because of how detailed it was…  Whereas reading Blatty’s book, I didn’t want to stop reading.  The characters are so real and we can tell that Blatty really cared for the people who his novel was based on.  While his novel is a terrifying masterpiece, it also has a strong amount of heart within the book which is why he took it so seriously.  This isn't some cheap thrill people throw out at people to make money, it was a sincere piece and I really can’t go wrong by giving the book a full 5 starts out of 5…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Sources:

The Exorcist
by William Peter Blatty

The Exorcist (Novel) Wikipedia Article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(novel)