[Barney]

I only know The Exorcist from the film but those posts have made me want to read the novel. Nice quotes J.D., especially the one about the Kurd's presence being like an "ancient debt".
By the way, can you remember which character's voice is described as being "full as a harvest"?

As a digression, I think The Exorcist was banned in the UK for a long time. Certainly I don't think you could buy it on video, although it is freely available now (more likely on DVD!). I finally saw it for the first time about 10 years ago in an art house cinema. And it lived up to it's notorious reputation. I had thought I had got too old to be really frightened by a horror film but The Exorcist certainly got to me.
Slightly parallel to JD's experience, I am not a religious man but the film seemed to reactivate (briefly) some vestigal belief in God and the Devil. Some of those possesion scenes made me experience actual dread. I think this is why the story is so powerful for many people, it can invoke religous awe which is not a common emoton!