The Exorcist (novel)
OCLC 29760583 | | |
Followed by | Legion |
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The Exorcist is a 1971
The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of supposed demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University.[1] 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 HarperCollins to celebrate its 40th anniversary, with slight revisions made by Blatty as well as interior title artwork by Jeremy Caniglia.
Plot
An elderly
Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young girl named Regan MacNeil is living with her famous mother, actress Chris MacNeil, who is in Georgetown filming a movie. Chris has rented a house for her and Regan to reside in during the filming. Regan finds a Ouija board in the basement of the home, which she uses to communicate with an entity who identifies itself as "Captain Howdy". As Chris finishes her work on the film, Regan begins to become inexplicably ill. After a gradual series of poltergeist-like disturbances in their rented house, for which Chris attempts to find rational explanations, Regan begins to rapidly undergo disturbing psychological and physical changes: she refuses to eat or sleep, becomes withdrawn, and increasingly aggressive and violent. Regan contorts her body to bow and bend in impossible directions, at one point following around her tutor Sharon, hissing and squirming like a snake. Chris initially mistakes Regan's behavior for the result of repressed anger over her parents' divorce and absent father.
Coupled with these events are disturbances at the local Holy Trinity Church, which has been desecrated on several recent occasions. Detective Kinderman begins investigating Father Karras, as they exchange disturbing stories of black mass Catholic theology and 1960s film stars. At this point in the novel Burke Dennings has been killed, with his head turned completely around. "Could another human being have done it? Yes, but he'd have to be an exceptionally powerful man."
After several unsuccessful psychiatric and medical treatments (X-rays, medication,
The bishop with whom he consults does not believe Karras is qualified to perform the rites, and appoints the experienced Merrin—who has recently returned to the United States—to perform the exorcism, although he does allow the doubt-ridden Karras to assist him. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests both physically and spiritually. When Merrin, who had previously suffered
Writing
Blatty had considered writing a novel based on the Doe exorcism since he had written about it as a college student, even as he became successful as a comic novelist and screenwriter in the early 1960s, but his agent talked him out of doing so when he raised the subject. But after seeing the film version of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby in 1968, Blatty told his wife that he wanted to write a story like that. He liked the way director Roman Polanski had kept the audience unsure whether the title character's concerns for her unborn child were genuine or not, but felt the ending was "schlocky", reducing the Devil to a joke.[2]
Blatty believed he could improve on the ending of Rosemary's Baby, making the spiritual struggle a more central theme of the story. After he pitched the story to an editor at
Inspirations
Aspects of the Father Merrin character 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".[4] Another inspiration was the Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a trained archeologist who worked on several notable digs.[5]
Aspects of the novel were inspired by an exorcism performed by the Jesuit priest, Fr.
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.[7] He also has one of his characters tell a brief story about an unnamed fraudulent 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.[8]
It has been speculated that
Achievements
According to research from the Spanish Book Institute, the Spanish-translated version was the eighth-most popular book sold in Spain in 1975.[11]
Editions
Translations
The novel was translated into many languages including Spanish and Bengali. The Bengali translation was done by the late popular Bangladeshi novelist and screenwriter Humayun Ahmed.
Adaptations
In 1973, the novel was adapted by Blatty for the film of the same name and directed by William Friedkin with Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller and Linda Blair. The screenplay for the film won Blatty an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 1974 famed Japanese horror author Kazuo Umezu also created a short comic adaptation of this film.
In February 2014,
A stage adaptation of the novel was written by John Pielmeier and premiered at Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in July 2012. It was directed by John Doyle and starred Brooke Shields, David Wilson Barnes, Richard Chamberlain, Emily Yetter, Harry Groener, Roslyn Ruff, Manoel Felciano, Tom Nelis, and Stephen Bogardus. The play made its UK premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in October 2016, co-produced by Bill Kenwright. The new production was directed by Sean Mathias, designed by Anna Fleischle and starred Jenny Seagrove as Chris, Peter Bowles as Merrin and Adam Garcia as Damien.[15]
See also
- Edward Hughes
- Robbie Mannheim
- Walter Halloran (Fr. Walter Halloran)
- William S. Bowdern (Fr. William Bowdern)
References
- ISBN 9788499170015. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
La inspiración del exorcista La historia de Robbie Mannheim es un caso típico de posesión, y es la que dio vida a la película El Exorcista.
- ^ ISBN 9781101516966. Archivedfrom the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "A website dedicated to William Peter Blatty, The Ninth Configuration & Legion". TheNinthConfiguration.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- ^ Friedkin, William (April 26, 2013). "'Exorcist' Director William Friedkin Reveals the Struggle to Make the Classic Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Part I – The Haunted Boy: the Inspiration for the Exorcist". Strangemag.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- ^ Pages 245–250 in the 40th Anniversary edition.
- ^ Count Petrovsky-Petrovo-Solovo. "Some Thoughts on D.D. Home". In Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 114. 1930. Quoted in John Casey (2009), After Lives: A Guide to Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Oxford. pp. 373–374.
- ISSN 1556-3723. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ISBN 0-7119-7509-4. Archivedfrom the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
- ^ Folha de S.Paulo, Ilustrada, p.5, January 28, 1976 (in Portuguese) – Retrieved December 29, 2011.
- ^ "Cemetery Dance Publications: The Exorcist and Legion (Special Edition)". Cemeterydance.com. 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- ^ TheNinthConfiguration.com — Further 40th Details
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 – The Exorcist". Bbc.co.uk. 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- ^ Ltd, Made Media. "Full Cast & Creative Team Announced For The Most Terrifying Show This Year at Birmingham Repertory Theatre". www.birmingham-rep.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-24.