The Exorcist

The scariest novel of all time... apparently 

Characters:

My favourite character here was most probably Father Karras as he seemed the most three dimensional. It was almost as if we were getting the story of him and not the story of Reagan's possession. He starts off as a normal man, but descends into depression and drink with the death of his mother. He then gets (what Christian Volger would name as) the "call to adventure" as he is asked to exorcise Reagan. A number of other mishaps happen to him and he just seems like the unluckiest guy in the world - we do support him though, when he takes the exorcism on. 

Themes:

My favourite theme in the novel was most probably 'faith VS doubt'. Father Karras not only has numbers of doubts when he has a 'call to adventure' - but Chris McNeil also has doubts about her daughter's condition being something religious - but both regain faith with the exorcism of Reagan. Which almost makes her exorcism and possession seem like a good thing, doesn't it? 

Storyline:

The intricacies of the storyline were well adapted to the novel - but some seemed a little unnecessary. I mean, when the whole Iraq thing was happening, there was a sudden requirement to keep flicking back to it; we understood it the first time. This made the possession and exorcism itself seem a little cut-short and not as catastrophic as Blatty could've made it. As for 'most terrifying novel of all time'; the novel is quite terrifying, but the 1973 film? I've met bread scarier than that. Most of the film just deals with Father Karras's drinking problem and dead mother. In the book it was much more sinister in description, especially about how he regains strength. 

Verdict:

I give this book a 7/9.

3/3 for characters: Father Karras was so well developed and three dimensional, it seemed like he was the everyman who was also nobody important. 

3/3 for themes: The juxtapositions that appear constantly in the book give themselves room to expand and become extended metaphors for more things. I find this a brilliant adaptation of skills into writing technique. 

1/3 for storyline: Although the characters and themes are very good, the storyline was a little lacklustre for me. I didn't find it overly frightening and felt like there could've been more exorcism/possession stuff happening. Also, the ending could've been written a little bit better - it seemed rushed and a little cut-short.