This book is one of the most controversial books ever written. It is based off of an apparent true child possession case in the 40's. I say apparent because I'm still extremely Catholic, regardless of my lapsed whatnots, and I have trouble believing in possessions. I'm not really sure why, because I've seen some pretty scary supernatural phenomena, all of which would point at the very least to there being some sort of spiritual existence.
Moving on from my obvious issues, this book is utterly terrifying. I've read it twice and the first time I read it, I didn't sleep for around three days. Regan, a eleven year old girl, is possessed by a demon. I think it is one demon. It is implied that there are multiples, but demons lie, so WHO KNOWS. It begins with an imaginary friend named Captain Howdy and quickly becomes a downward spiral. The reader doesn't know what caused Regan to become possessed. It could be the ouija board she is playing with but most likely it is just that she was there, a thought which lends itself to the overall dread of the book. The priests in this book are fantastic. There is some beautiful sentiments spoken by these priests about the nature of God's love.
Obviously, the main theme of this book is possession and horror. It definitely encapsulates these perfectly. The book is extremely frightening. It allows the imagination to take what you are reading and turns it into something so twisted, it is hard to imagine that they adequately captured this in a movie. I've seen the movie, which was fantastically horrifying, but it misses some of the finer parts. Both are beautifully profane.
Incidentally, I was pretty disturbed by the crucifix masturbation and the licking of someone's ankles.
Five Stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment