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biobeetle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Blood
Minor: Blood and Stalking
lunarrooster's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual violence
esterie's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
liked (referencing the pages in my edition specifically):
-316: the back and forth between the demon & karras in latin at first, then in other languages
-324: the revelation that the demon (through regan) had been speaking in reverse english, NOWONMAI = I AM NO ONE, DOGMORFMOCION = I COME FROM GOD, MARIN = Lankester Merrin
-329: the spontaneous dermatographia being written in Regan's own handwriting
-342: Chris telling Karras about Regan, then sadly saying "You've never met her". Made me tear up.
-351: Merrin going to see Regan, the demon & he staring at each other and the demon simply saying "This time, you're going to lose." ohhhhhhh the chills!!!!! the unspoken history!!!!!
-multiple times Karras' death is foreshadowed with the mention of him feeling cold hands on the back of his neck, but also on page 350 Merrin tells him a story about a priest who took care of lepers & eventually succumbed to it himself.
-i thought at first that the detective segments would bore me, but i quite liked them in the end. the conclusion that the paint from Regan's arts and crafts was the same paint used in one of the church desecration, that she was the likely culprit....... wow.
disliked
-my only major criticism/frustration is that Karras is 100% certain and believes that mind reading and telekinesis is just.... normally accepted and documented incidences in psychiatry. this is a determined fact that cannot be disputed and has no other causes. it just. happens, i guess. like...... "oh no, regan opening a dresser drawer while being strapped to the bed, or knowing how to answer a question asked in latin/french/german from reading my mind is not proof of possession". ??? gtfo!!!!!! its so frustrating!!!!!! in the 70s did psychiatrists literally believe mind reading and telekinesis were real things!!!! what!!!!!! (pg 301 for ref)
questions
-what happened to the demon at the end, was it sent back to hell because Karras died with it inside him? possession needs an invitation and no one was around?
-why did the demon just..... not untie Regan? it could clearly move objects & people. was it just using its control & fear over the people in the house, gaining pleasure from that? at one point Kinderman sees a figure move in front of Regan's window, but i can't recall if she was restrained at that time.
Graphic: Sexual violence and Vomit
sjsantilli19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Self harm, Sexual violence, Excrement, and Vomit
louiepotterbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
drewanslee's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Drug abuse
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The book itself reads more like a modern thriller than a horror, moving at a quick pace with constant swerves. The dialogue is quick and often witty. I had seen the movie a couple of times but I had forgotten what a long and winding path there is to the iconic scene chosen for the movie's poster. The language in this book astounds me. Blatty has some amazing turns of phrase, and the way he writes when following the third-person perspective of Father Marrin was exquisite. It's a true page turner to this day. It's not perfect: the character of Dennings is completely absurd, having our doubting priest character be ethnically Jewish sure is a Choice, and the ending is jarringly abrupt. I'd like to read another novel like it.
And yet... Like how Psycho and Silence of the Lambs both explicitly state that the serial killers in the movies are not trans, and yet still fed into and reinforced narratives of bigotry about trans women, I can't help but think about this book in relation to the Satanic Panic. This book was published nine years before Michelle Remembers acted as the torch igniting the pyre of that horrid moment in history, but I can't shake the feeling that it was one of many logs present in that fire. The characters in this novel are absolutely convinced that the Black Mass exists, that blood libel is on some level real, and that in the moment it was published there were groups out there doing ritual sacrifice. Did you know when put under the highly suggestive state of hypnosis to "recall repressed memories", many people actually wind up recalling movies they've seen? How many people were convinced they were abused by a satanic cult when they were actually remembering scenes from the movie adaptation of this book? Is that the fault of the book, or the society the book was published in? I don't know and I can't stop thinking about it.
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Abandonment
Lots of misogynistic slurs. I didn't know you could be racist against Germans but this book proved you could!madelinequinnee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
lesel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit
kyleighwhitsell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence