TTKK is a truly remarkable book, albeit one with very little intrinsic value. It's about Colonel Hudson Kane, who comes to the Bela Slovik mansion as a famous psychologist tasked with "curing" its nutty Air Force inmates, among whom is the astronaut who flaked out prior to America's first mission to the moon. Kane, however, doesn't much act like a psychologist and Cutshaw, the astronaut, doesn't appear to be entirely batty. Things aren't exactly what they seem.Before he wrote The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty wrote three comic novels, this one being the last and, I can only hope (not having read the others), the worst. Yet I feel pretty confident in saying it is the most interesting of the three.What makes it bad are the characters: they're all insane. Or, worse, they're all pretending to be. Either way, they act like fools. It's a particularly lazy brand of comedy that finds its humor in absurdity for its own sake. One character continually hammers the walls of the mansion to make their atoms pay for not allowing him to pass through without benefit of a door while another spends his time writing (and eventually casting) the plays of Shakespeare...for dogs. Oh, Blatty manages some funny lines along the way -- one about whether or not it would be considered bad form to cast a Great Dane as Hamlet -- but that's easy enough when you can tailor the situation to the lines, rather than the other way around. Nor does it help that, this being an irreverent, vaguely anti-war novel (it was published in 1966), the brass, including a Senator, are portrayed as idiotic madmen.What makes it interesting, though, is this: it is one of the most blatant blueprints for a later work you will ever read. Not that it was intended that way. But all the obsessions that led Blatty to write The Exorcist are present in TTKK -- from the simple love of movies to the coexistence of evil and a benevolent God; everything, in fact, including a discussion of possession and exorcism. Readers of The Exorcist will note that Blatty even uses an astronaut in both.The religious and philosophical discussions of Kane and Cutshaw are the meat of the book (and if that juxtaposition, of absurd comedy and religious exploration, seems odd, you're right, it is), but there's too little of it to make a decent meal. Especially when the rest is fluff -- meringue minus the pie.
Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, later re-titled The Ninth Configuration tells the headache inducing story of a military psychologist who is sent to a military nut house to deal with some military psychos who were supposed to go into space, but suddenly became crazy.This is a tough book to rate because it is riddled with good and bad. The overall story is painfully predictable with a couple unexpected twists. But, at the same time the author does a great job of explaining the thought process of the characters so that the obvious storyline feels crafted with unpredictable motives.There is some good philosophy in here. I am not one to highlight books, but I am considering going back to highlight a few things. Metaphors, symbols, and plain philosophical conversations pop up constantly.And the book was written incredibly well. Vocabulary, sentence structure, pacing, tone, tempo... Amazing work. The author is a master in this sense.But, the book lacked a lot at the same time. The intro chapter is a throw away designed to introduce you to the insanity. Then the story is introduced rather quickly. All the characters are identified and the plot is set into motion. Then we are presented with 100 - 150 pages of pointless conversation. It is disposable to the story. It is only used to continuously hammer in the reality of the situation.Then the last 50 - 100 pages are back to moving the plot along. It reads quick at the end, but it takes a bit to get there. My only other complaint is the excessive dialogue. There is little action to move along the story and the narrator depends 100% on the conversations between characters to explain anything except visual details.Overall, it is a subpar story with some pleasant surprises written by a superb author that utilized an annoying narrator in a book that I can only describe as mediocre.
What do You think about The Ninth Configuration (1999)?
I read this book in one sitting last night, which makes sense since it is written like the outline of a movie script, with just a little helpful description and all of the story told in dialogue.I thought it was going to be a horror novel going by the cover of the copy I had, but instead it plays out sort of like a mix between Catch 22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I think one of those Animal House-style posters, with all the different crazy characters doing crazy hijinks (which is apparently not a real word?), would make a better cover.The crazy-talk got really tiresome, and was too super random for me, and I thought the catalyst at the end was also too much of a deus ex machina, and sometimes the descriptions and dialogue were just too cliche, but what can I say? For the most part I liked the philosophical discussions, and some of the conclusions, and, treating it like an afternoon movie I was instead reading, it lived up to its premise.(Also, I really liked the picture of the author on the back. It was this picture (http://mysuli.aldebaran.ru/authors/bl...) only blown out more, revealing one hand is holding a coffee cup and the other is on his hip, mondo-casual. It looks like the viewer just woke up after staying the night with him and he's bringing in coffee, or he just handed you his manuscript and now he wants to know what you think. It's cool)
—Printable Tire
The Ninth Configuration is a compelling book about the nature of psychopathology and malingering. It is a very surreal and intelligent story about a psychiatrist's unorthodox method of curing the severe mental health problems of soldiers who suddenly became psychotic (or pretended to be). It's part Heart of Darkness, part One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, part Stephen King, and part Dostoevsky. It's only 130 (or so) pages long and definitely worth reading. [Note to sensitive readers: this book contains strong violence and profanity]
—Owen Spencer
This was a very quick read from the man who gave us The Exorcist.It was pretty good, although I feel it could have been more fleshed outas far as characterization was concerned.There were several characters that flitted in an out of the story thatI would have liked to have known better. Psychologically damagedcharacters are invariably the best on paper.One page in particular very much moved me, and this is why I'm ratingthis book 4 stars instead of 3. It is where Kane explains his belief of an afterlife: how Nature couldn't possibly deny fulfillment of the universal craving for happiness.Any novel that makes me dog-ear a page for future reference is certainly worth my time.
—Bill
