No edit summary Tags: Visual edit apiedit rollback |
(Replaced content with "ATTENTION: This site has been hijacked by Sheikh Yarbouti. We are trying to resecure it. Because of this the proper Web address may not appear in your browser address wind...") Tag: rte-source |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | ATTENTION: This site has been hijacked by Sheikh Yarbouti. We are trying to resecure it. Because of this the proper Web address may not appear in your browser address window above. |
||
| − | {{infobox book |
||
| − | |name= The Exorcist |
||
| − | |image= FirstEdition.jpg |
||
| − | |author= [[William Peter Blatty]] |
||
| − | |country= [[Wikipedia:United States|United States]] |
||
| − | |language= English |
||
| − | |genre= Horror |
||
| − | |publisher= [[Wikipedia:Harper & Row|Harper & Row]] |
||
| − | |publication= 1971 |
||
| − | |media= Print (Hardback & Paperback) & Audio Book |
||
| − | |pages= 340 |
||
| − | |isbn= 978-0-06-010365-1 |
||
| − | |preceded= |
||
| − | |followed= [[Legion]] |
||
| − | |}} |
||
| − | |||
| − | The Exorcist is a 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty. The book details the demonic possession of twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil, the daughter of a famous actress, and the Jesuit psychiatrist priest who attempts to exorcise the demon. Published by Harper & Row, the novel was the basis of a highly successful film adaption released two years later, whose screenplay was also written by Blatty. |
||
| − | |||
| − | The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/william-peter-blatty-writer-of-the-exorcist-slips-back-into-the-light-for-its-40th-anniversary/2013/10/30/e8c85900-3fda-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html</ref> 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 Harper Collins to celebrate its fortieth anniversary, with slight revisions made by Blatty as well as interior title artwork by Jeremy Caniglia.<ref>http://www.npr.org/2011/10/29/141683620/after-40-years-grisly-exorcist-book-gets-a-rewrite</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Plot== |
||
| − | An elderly Jesuit priest named [[ Lankester Merrin|Father Lankester Merrin]] is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and is studying ancient relics. After discovering a small statue of the demon [[Pazuzu]], a series of omens alerts him to a pending confrontation with a powerful evil, which, unknown to the reader at this point, he has battled before in an exorcism in Africa. |
||
| − | |||
| − | 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. 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 frenetic, and increasingly aggressive and violent. Chris initially mistakes Regan's behavior as a result of repressed anger over her parents' divorce and absent father. |
||
| − | |||
| − | After several unsuccessful psychiatric and medical treatments, Regan's mother, an atheist, turns to a local Jesuit priest for help as Regan's personality becomes increasingly disturbed. Father [[Damien Karras]], who is currently going through a crisis of faith coupled with the loss of his mother, agrees to see Regan as a psychiatrist, but initially resists the notion that it is an actual demonic possession. After a few meetings with the child, now completely inhabited by a diabolical personality, he turns to the local bishop for permission to perform an [[exorcism]] on the child. |
||
| − | |||
| − | 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 cardiac arrhythmia, dies during the process, completion of the exorcism ultimately falls upon Father Karras. When he demands that the demonic spirit inhabit him instead of the innocent Regan, the demon seizes the opportunity to possess the priest. Karras heroically surrenders his own life in exchange for Regan's by jumping out of her bedroom window and falling to his death, regaining his faith in God as his last rites are read. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Facutal basis for the novel== |
||
| − | Aspects of the character Father Merrin 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theninthconfiguration.com/2009/ |title=A website dedicated to William Peter Blatty, The Ninth Configuration & Legion |publisher=TheNinthConfiguration.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-31}}</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | Aspects of the novel were inspired by an exorcism performed by the Jesuit priest, Fr. William S. Bowdern, who formerly taught at both St. Louis University and St. Louis University High School. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Recent investigative research by freelance journalist Mark Opsasnick indicates that Blatty's novel was based on an actual 1949 exorcism of a young boy, Ronald Hunkeler, from Cottage City, Maryland, whom Opsasnick refers to using the pseudonyms Robbie Mannheim and Roland Doe. Ronald was sent to his relative's home on Roanoke Drive in St. Louis where most of the exorcism took place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strangemag.com/exorcistpage1.html |title=Part I - The Haunted Boy: the Inspiration for the Exorcist |publisher=Strangemag.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-31}}</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | 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.<ref>Pages 245-250 in the 40th Anniversary edition.</ref> He also has one of his characters tell a brief story about an unnamed fraudulent Spiritualist 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]].<ref>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.</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Achievements== |
||
| − | According to a research from the Spanish Book Institute, the Spanish language|Spanish translated version was the eighth-most popular book sold in Spain in 1975.<ref>[[Folha de São Paulo]], [http://acervo.folha.com.br/fsp/1976/01/28/21/4278148 Ilustrada, p.5, January 28, 1976 (in portuguese)] - Retrieved December 29, 2011.</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Republications== |
||
| − | On October 31, 2010, Cemetery Dance published a special omnibus edition of ''The Exorcist'' and its sequel [[File:The-Exorcist-novel-01.jpg|thumb|156px|''40th Annyversary'' Edition cover.]]''[[Legion]]'', signed by Blatty (ISBN 978-1587672118). A limited edition of 750 copies (with an additional 52 leatherbound copies), it is now out of print.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/blatty02 |title=Cemetery Dance Publications: The Exorcist and Legion (Special Edition) |publisher=Cemeterydance.com |date=2010-12-22 |accessdate=2014-03-31}}</ref> On September 27, 2011, ''The Exorcist'' was re-released as a 40th Anniversary Edition in paperback, hardcover and audiobook editions with differing cover artwork. This new, updated edition featured and revised material, as Blatty writes: "The 40th Anniversary Edition of The Exorcist will have a touch of new material in it as part of an all-around polish of the dialogue and prose. It also features all new cover artwork and interiors by the artist [[Jeremy Caniglia]]. First time around I never had the time (meaning the funds) to do a second draft, and this, finally, is it. With forty years to think about it, a few little changes were inevitable -- plus one new character in a totally new very spooky scene. This is the version I would like to be remembered for."<ref>[http://www.theninthconfiguration.com/#aug32011 TheNinthConfiguration.com - Further 40th Details]</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Adaptations== |
||
| − | In 1973, the novel was adapted by Blatty for [[The Exorcist (film)|the film of the same name]] and directed by [[William Friedkin]] with [[Ellen Burstyn]], [[Max von Sydow]], [[Lee J. Cobb]], [[Jack MacGowran]], [[Jason Miller |Jason Miller]] and [[Linda Blair]]. The screenplay for the film won Blatty an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. |
||
| − | |||
| − | In February 2014, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a two-part adaptation of the novel by Robert Forrest<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w71wx |title=BBC Radio 4 - The Exorcist |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2014-02-21 |accessdate=2014-03-31}}</ref> produced and directed by [[Gaynor MacFarlane]] and |
||
| − | starring [[Robert Glenister]] as Father Karras, [[Lydia Wilson]] as Regan, [[Teresa Gallagher]] as Chris MacNeil, [[Karl Johnson]] as Detective Kinderman, [[Bryan Dick]] as Father Dyer, Alexandra Mathie as The Demon and [[Ian McDiarmid]] as Father Merrin. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Gallery== |
||
| − | <gallery position="center" orientation="none" widths="155" captionalign="center"> |
||
| − | PC990.jpg|An italian edition. |
||
| − | tumblr_lnl64gtj9N1qb9nsso1_500.jpg|French edition. |
||
| − | el-exorcista2.jpg|Spanish edition. |
||
| − | 4-15-2011 7;43;22 PM.JPG |
||
| − | livro.jpg|Brazilian edition. |
||
| − | </gallery> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==References== |
||
| − | <references> |
||
| − | [[Category:Novels]] |
||
Revision as of 16:31, 14 November 2016
ATTENTION: This site has been hijacked by Sheikh Yarbouti. We are trying to resecure it. Because of this the proper Web address may not appear in your browser address window above.