read any good books lately...

Deliver us from Evil by Ralph Sarchie & Lisa Collier Cool (St Martin's Paperbacks 2001)

I purchased this largely on the strength of the 2014 movie of the same name which the producers claim somewhat spuriously, it was based upon. Please be advised that Deliver Us From Evil is an excellent exorcism movie well worth seeing but bears little relation to the contents of the 2001 book. What's odd about the authors' complicity in allowing this dissimilitude is that co-writer Ralph Sarchie never lets you forget for a second that he doesn't charge for his demonology services, he is a committed christian, unashamedly republican, shies away from publicity and talks a great game of spirituality always trumping materialism. He also makes it abundantly clear that he would never make any footage of any exorcism he was involved in available for public consumption yet has subsequently done so without demur. We can only surmise that this is the reason this humble servant of God who has chosen poverty has also chosen to donate the lucrative film rights to the charity 'Buying Your Own Home in Long Island'



For all his dogmatism and disavowal of scientific explanations for the phenomena he describes, I think Sarchie sincere but completely deluded. That he actually does offer people some respite from their terrible suffering is also probably undisputed but this merely serves to impart in his beneficiaries, some of his own very subjective and unhealthy superstitious thinking. He is certainly a very charismatic, convincing and on occasion intimidating individual (how else would he recruit assistants from the ranks of an NYPD who wouldn't blink at fishing dead babies out of a dumpster?) so we should perhaps just be grateful he's never seen fit to head up a cult to propagate his archly 'trad catholic' worldview.

The structure of the book is that of separate exorcism case studies and follows closely the precedent set by Malachi Martin's rather superior Hostage to the Devil from 1976. The subject matter is never less than interesting and Sarchie/Cool keep up a good pace throughout which keeps you turning the page. Ultimately however, we are left facing the wrong question at the conclusion i.e. Sarchie wants us to ask: Is the devil real and how can I fight him? but instead the reader if left only with: why does this brave, pragmatic and sincere man believe in so much irrational and self serving sh*te?

BTW Publishers everywhere: get a f*cking clue and stop changing the name of books solely on the basis of cashing in on the country of origin of the film-star e.g. In the USA the book is called Beware the Night and if you ask for this in a book shop in Australia (where I live and where Eric Bana originates) they say, nope it doesn't exist cobber.


Edited by ExittheLemming - July 22 2017 at 04:18

^ I'll keep an eye out for that one. Curiously, I finished Dr. Bloodmoney last Sunday, one of the best I've read from him. It's funny how he makes a post-apocalyptic world a nice place to live. It's very light considering the theme.

Rereading Kafka, currently in the middle of the story about the story about the giant mole.

Still rereading  'Mysteries'  by Colin Wilson.

dr wu23 wrote: Still rereading  'Mysteries'  by Colin Wilson. I'm going to look for that 'Phenomena' book posted above.

She's a very good writer, currently reading --








Edited by Atavachron - August 25 2017 at 00:50

^ Lovely

Matti wrote: I had to read this carefully some time ago, as I edited the second, upgraded edition. I'm pretty proud of it! Thanks for Eetu Pellonpää for the excellent painting.

Matti, is there an English translation ? (first time I have notice of your book, btw, sorry)

Cixin Liu - The Three-Body Problem
Cixin Liu - The Dark Forest
Cixin Liu - Death's End

Almost finished this trilogy by a Chinese author whom I did not know of until I found these in Waterstones. Superb hard sci-fi. The Three-Body Problem is set in post-war Communist China an it tells the story of an alien civilisation which learns of the existence of Earth. The Dark Forest continues the tale with the alien civilisation facing destruction so they plan to invade Earth. Death's End, the trilogy's concluding volume, explores the two societies' attempt to co-exist, despite apparently irreconcilable differences. 4/5

Currently reading "Lincoln in the Bardo" by George Saunders. Never heard of it, but an owner of a bookstore said it was on his top 3 list of all time so I felt I had to try. So far, very interesting read!