[ReganMacNeilfan]

Is this the book that I got out of the library from the 70’s?

[Satanas]

I bought the paperback version back at the start of 1974 just after the movie broke out & I still have the book believe it or not. It looks as though it's been through a war but it's a book I would never give up just because it's part of an era  to me that feels was like it was yesterday. It seems like everyone I knew back then had the same book. I remember standing in the rain on a Saturday afternoon in Westwood, California for three hours to get in to see the movie. The book & first Exorcist movie are iconic.

[fatherbowdern]

Rags,

Check the copyright page located on the left-hand side within the first few pages of your book.

Father B

 

PS: Let us know the year because it certainly looks 1970's.

[forwearemany]

I remember reading the book for the first time, I must have been about 17yrs old, early 1980, I had never seen the film, I had heard all the reviews, the Book, and ultimately the film had received, and how in many quarters, it was viewed as an abhorrent piece of literature, made into a more abhorrent movie, my copy was the Corgi edition, the one with the soft focus image on the cover, which until only recently I could actually make out as a face peering around a door frame, (I believe it is a picture of Shirley McClaine's daughter Saatchi,) I always thought it might be the demon featured in the novel,

 

I started reading, the prologue in Northern Iraq set a particular tone for what was to come, being interested in the ancient civilisations, I was familiar with many of the beliefs and cultures from that location, particularly the belief in demons, gods, and other deities, I read on, I soon reached the part where Regan starts showing signs that all is not well, on and on I read, each character offering a new depth to the story, I had gotten to the part where Burke Dennings had been pushed from Regan's window, and suffered the most horrific injury, Blatty referred to the Demon as the Wolf, and I had all kinds of images going through my head, the story got darker, and darker, I was feeling rather tense, in an uneasy kind of way, but I couldn't stop reading, I was drawn like a moth to a flame, and my fear was palatable, my mind raced with images of the most horrific nature, my breathing, much like Regan's was rhythmic, my mouth was dry, and I was afraid to move, I told myself it is only a book, but it was more than that, I had been transported to that icy little room, I was witness to this child's torment,

 

I reached the point of the Exorcism, Father Merrin had arrived and was advising Karras in how to conduct the Exorcism, I had been subjected to the most foul abuses, and behaviours known, and now I was about to confront the Devil again in a final showdown, the narrative was concise but exact, the sense of foreboding was overbearing, the demon was now in total control of Regan, and only the two priests could save her, I read on, I remember being overcome with an overt religious sensation, I am not religious myself, and yet I couldn't shake this feeling, I read on, the feeling of being in the presence of something unbearably evil engulfed me, I actually felt like I was in the centre of this maelstrom, and I was open to attack, but still I couldn't put it down, the sense of being watched was overpowering, I read on, father Merrin lay dead on the bedroom floor, Karras had flung himself from the window, and a little girl huddled in the corner, crying desperately for her mother, as lieutenant Kinderman stood bewildered as he witnessed the scene, I reached the end, 

 

The Exorcist Novel is the most emotionally draining book I have ever read, it takes you to places beyond comprehension, to visit a world beyond normal, and to intrude in the lives of those concerned, it is literary excellence, and stands out as a tour de force of popular fiction, I had nightmares after reading it, I went to see the movie not long after, again, never has a movie left such an indelible mark on me, it transcends anything before it and after it, and is a testament to the power of it's story.   

[Author]

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