I was bobbing along with this book as engaging but not impactful. The priests were quite entertaining, with the dry wit presented. Right up until the scene where Chris rails at Father Karras. At around the halfway point she cries out, "I've taken her to every goddam, fucking doctor, psychiatrist in the world and the sent me to you; now you send me to them!" and it punches me in the gut. I realize at this point I have become fully invested in the characters and the book has me locked in for the rest of the trip. 
 The film is an excellent and worthy adaptation of the book (unsurprising since Blatty wrote the screenplay), yet I would still find reading the book valuable. We get to see the inner conflict of the characters in even greater depth, particularly Father Damien Karras. The supporting story of the murder mystery with the detective gets enough space to breathe properly.