MovieChat Forums > The Ninth Configuration (1980) Discussion > The Book.... (ATTN- SPOILERS**)

The Book.... (ATTN- SPOILERS**)

posted 19 years ago by MorbidKittyProductions
9 replies | jump to latest

I just got in "The Ninth Configuration" today in the mail, and actually finished it today too! It's only 135 pages -- so it was a quick read.

Whew -- a very good finalized ending, much better than the film... it tells you a bit about the few guys the book follows and what happens to them after the Center/Experimentation is shut down/abandoned...

very satisfying ending for me, and as the story VERY closely resembles that of the movie, word for word/scene for scene, i love it JUST as much but at least a smidgen MORE than the movie!

It's because of Cutshaw's explanations for his calling God "Foot" and about the whole catepillar discussion, and i cried at the very end, as it did in the movie, when the guy w/ Cutshaw said "heard there was a killer there" or something like it and Cutshaw says "He was a Lamb"... gets me every time...

:sigh: i won't ruin all of the 'afterward' endings for you-- i think it's a must read for any Blatty fan.. which i am now.. definitely. :)

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

[–] Boycee69II 19 years ago

the one with the suicide?

It aint like it used to be, but it'll do

[–] MorbidKittyProductions 19 years ago

yes, the one with the suicide, it explains it the same as in the movie in the letter at the end -- that part is the afterward in the book... only in the book it tells what happened to everyone else that were main characters too, which helps out to validate that his 'shock treatment' worked for a lot of them :)

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

[–] yorick-20 19 years ago

Your comments—very helpful and enriching,
I have just bought the book because of them

I only add to your final line

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama"

my favorite part

"a St. Christopher medal. wait, there is something on th back..."

Or something close to that

My all time favorite movie

[–] MorbidKittyProductions 19 years ago

yorick- you bought the book b/c of MY comments? wow.. kewl. thanks :)
and you're welcome. I love influencing people to read or watch things lol :) that's why i'm in school for audio/video production - hopefully i can sell a movie idea of mine just as easily as i'd influenced you to buy/read "TNC" lol :)

that was the quote that most stuck in my head, tho- that's why i quote it.
along w/ "One more thing Coronel.... stick a pineapple up your *&!@ and pretend you're a Hawiian!" lol
i always remember that one and there's soo many i love!

"Like hell i would! Powerful drugs could be insinuated into my soup!" lol

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

[–] Edward_de_Vere 19 years ago

"Ninth Configuration" is by Blatty's own admission a great improvement over "Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane." The latter is an incoherent mess with a lot of failed attempts at slapstick humor (unlike the more streamlined "Ninth Configuration," where both the philosophy and humor actually work).

The only scene in the movie that was not and should have been in the book was Lt. Bennish doing his Al Jolson karaoke in front of Major Nammack (I don't think that Nammack is a black man in the book, so that may have been an afterthought after Moses Gunn was cast in the role). That was one of the few scenes in any film that had me fall out of my chair laughing.

[–] MorbidKittyProductions 19 years ago

i somehow don't remember that part. hm. i have to watch it again! :) yayy
yeah, i've only read the re-write "NC" not "Twinkle Twinkle".. thank goodness i read THIS version lol :)

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

[–] Edward_de_Vere 19 years ago

There are several VHS-DVD versions of "Ninth Configuration" out there. For example, one version (the one I have) has Kane committing suicide with his jungle knife, another version has him bleeding to death from an injury received at the barfight. I wonder whether the Al Jolson scene might not be in all versions either. It really is priceless however: Robert Loggia in blackface singing "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" while a black senior officer looks on.

[–] MorbidKittyProductions 19 years ago

ohhh does he have facepaint on to look black?? i think i MAY remember that lol

"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

[–] spinwit 19 years ago

Robert Loggia in blackface singing "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" while a black senior officer looks on.

What makes it truly funny though is Moses Gunn's reaction to it. He stands there looking at Loggia with that vaguely dissaproving expression...

It's so perfect a reaction to what Loggia is doing.