- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 3 months ago by
ekm.
-
AuthorPosts
-
February 8, 2013 at 10:37 PM #14125
ReganMacNeilfan
ParticipantWhat are people's take on the book? I just bought it and have not read it yet. 🙂
February 8, 2013 at 11:16 PM #26920jguthrie
ParticipantI happen to have really liked Legion. It is basically a detective story with supernatural elements. I like how it shows how intelligent a think Detective Kinderman is. I suspect Blatty puts a lot of himself in that character. I definite page turner like the Exorcist. After reading the book, I thought the film could have been much better. I just read it and that's my take.
February 9, 2013 at 8:20 PM #26924granville1
ParticipantI enjoyed the “Blattian” elements like …
ÂÂ
SPOILERS
ÂÂ
… his borrowed but effective use of “The Angel’ theory which dovetails nicely with Merrin’s own philosophy in the first novel; his artful going for the jugular with mental illness and supernatural horror; and of course, returning the reader to Georgetown.
ÂÂ
However, I could, and cannot not stand most of Kinderman’s “religio-philosophical” ruminations. They’re mostly nothing but a poorly-organized attack on evolution combined with an equally soft-headed defense of Intelligent Design. I had always thought more highly of Kinderman than to view him as an uncritical fundamentalist, who completely misunderstands the actual claims of evolutionary science. For me, that’s Legion’s major failing, which is too bad, because there is just too damn much of it; it consumes pages of the story and ultimately destroys its capacity to be a real “page-turner”.
All this, only to be, sadly, capped by an extremely weak “climax” where nothing happens except that, having become aware that his hated father has just dropped dead, the Gemini simply dies, slipping away quite gently without any real, anguishing struggle with Kinderman (or with any potential exorcists). This is strange, if only because of the fact that the Gemini is not acting independently, but has been inserted into Karras’ body, and sustained in that condition, by The Exorcist’s original – and savagely vengeful – demon. What?? The demon loses control of the Gemini because the Gemini just up and decides to kick the bucket ?? This makes the demon seem weak in a way it never was in the first novel and film. In this – the Gemini’s demise – the film Exorcist III: Legion contains a definitive (if somewhat over-the-top) climax, where the real demon finally displaces “my son the Gemini”, re-appearing as a real, powerful agent … and directly combats the exorcist Fr. Morning, Kinderman, and the trapped remnants of Damien Karras’ personality. Relatively speaking, the novel’'s climax, unfortunately, is merely pallid anti-climax …
… and … there is a very nasty, unresolved insinuation about the love of Dr Amfortas’ life, to the effect that she had been cheating on the psychiatrist with his vicious nemesis Dr Temple; and a much worse insinuation that Amfortas had a hand in deliberately assisting the Gemini in the rash of Georgetown serial killings. The entire book leaves the impression of having been written in a hurry, which may explain some of its omissions and other glaring flaws.
Legion is one of my favorite reads, not least because of its middle portion involving Dr Amfortas, Fr Dyer, and a very spooky entry into paranormal EVP tape recordings. It’s just that its flaws remove it from the radiant arena in which The Exorcist is forever, deservedy, ensconced.
February 9, 2013 at 8:47 PM #26925ReganMacNeilfan
Participanthey thank you. 🙂
February 9, 2013 at 9:05 PM #26926granville1
Participantu r welcome. I do hope you enjoy the book and don't allow my negatives to interfere with that enjoyment 🙂
February 9, 2013 at 9:11 PM #26927ReganMacNeilfan
Participantgranville1 said:
u r welcome. I do hope you enjoy the book and don't allow my negatives to interfere with that enjoyment 🙂
ÂÂ
No problem. It wont. 🙂
February 9, 2013 at 9:13 PM #26928granville1
ParticipantOK 🙂
October 15, 2013 at 3:27 PM #27854ekm
ParticipantBlatty’s writings are evangelism in the form of narrative fiction.
October 15, 2013 at 3:29 PM #27855ekm
ParticipantRegarding the EVP section of LEGION: this was largely autobiographical, and based on Blatty’s own experiments, as has been documented elsewhere. He played these recordings for me, and what one hears is largely dependent on one’s bias.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.