Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Followed Ripley

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"The Boy who Followed Ripley" is a bit of a mixed bag. The premise of a compassionate, protective Ripley is certainly fascinating. Ripley attempts to protect an affluent young murderer by sheltering him from kidnappers, his family , but most importantly of all from his impulsive guilty conscience. True to her subtlety and skill, Highsmith does not portray Ripley in a sentimental or redemptive fashion. His motives, however benign, are still essentially self-centered and murky. The beauty of Patricia Highsmith's characterization, particularly in the Ripley series, is more the result of what she doesn't assume and what she doesn't tell you than what she does.

Anyone taken by the action and the tension in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" may find this book a little maddening. There is very little action in this novel, and when it occurs it somehow seems less relevant than the remainder of the story. "The Boy Who Followed Ripley" more of a psychological exploration than a thriller. The interesting factor here is the contrast between the machinery of Ripley's untroubled soul and the agony of the boy's tormented one. As Ripley shields the boy from the police, kidnappers, and his family he also attempts to teach him how to cope with the weight of his crime. The tension in this novel doesn't come from wondering whether Ripley will get away with murder so much as wondering whether or not he can successfully impart his amoral aplomb to his young charge. It is a very subtle kind of tension which frankly won't appeal to everyone.

While I enjoyed the premise and the slow pace of this book I did feel that Highsmith was a bit more careless than in her other ones. Somehow I don't think the boy's family or the private detective they hired would so easily allow Ripley to assist them when the boy is kidnapped. Parts of the novel failed to realize their enormous potential. For example, at one point, Ripley decides that he's simply going to challenge the kidnappers and settle the score with them if possible. It's a thrilling moment because you agree with the often disagreeable Ripley and you wonder how he'll pull it off. But in this scene the action is too quick, too easy and-well-not too believable. It's one of the few gripes I have with Highsmith but it hardly diminishes my appreciation of the book.

One thing that I'm really curious about and which makes the Ripley series quite enjoyable is how the hell his wife copes with him. Even to the most naïve it is obvious that Ripley is either a criminal or a person who attracts crime. What kind of woman is his wife? Does she have an inkling about her husband? What attracts her to him? Highsmith provides us with delightful hints about this in some of the other novels, but not so much in this one. Perhaps more than any other Ripley novel, including the highly introspective "Ripley Underwater", this one takes us right into the man's very thoughts.

I'm working my way through the Ripley series (am currently into number five), and I think that *The Boy who Followed Ripley* is the best since *The Talented Mr. Ripley.* (Though the second and third in the series are well worth the read, and besides, I wouldn't recommend skipping them, since they provide background essential for fully appreciating the later novels.) What a great character Tom Ripley is! We've seen it in previous books, but here we see a lot of the tender side of Tom, who is really affected by his relationship with the boy Frank. I also find his relationships with his shady cronies interesting--they'll break the law regularly, but there is indeed some honor in their relations with one another.

The action of the book is indeed slow, as another reviewer mentioned, but I was struck while reading it by how tense an atmosphere the author managed to create without so much action. Always a sense of foreboding.

Again, as another reviewer mentioned, the action that does occur is perhaps not as well described as it might be. I at least was confused about precisely what went on in the apartment, the big action scene: the bad guys were going this way and that, and seemed to give up without a fight, but I didn't quite understand everything. Didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel, however. And before I log off I'll be ordering some non-Ripley Highsmith novels.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Patricia Highsmith continues her analysis of highly amoral and asexual Tom Ripley with her indescribably yet highly seductive and underhanded manner of storytelling which compels the reader to read on and subconsciously affirm each and every one of Ripley's actions. In this, the fourth Ripley tale, Ripley, squiring about in his French country manor, still dabbling in art forgery and living off his father-in-law's largesse, comes across a sixteen year old male American runaway from a prestigious family, working as a gardener. Taking the boy under his wing, he finds he is mysteriously drawn to him and with good cause: the boy, Frank, like Tom, himself, has committed murder. Knowing something of Tom's history, the boy seeks him out for tutelage, sympathy and God knows what else. The relationship develops as the whirlwind plot detours the reader from the French countryside, to Paris, to Berlin (for a 70s glimpse at the famous Wall), Hamburg, New York and Maine, all in that innocent yet insinuating Highsmith style that immerses one so totaly in Ripley's world. Even the most skeptical reader is convinced that whatever 'snafus' encountered along the way are par for the course, must be dealt with in typical Ripley fashion and are not worth a sleepless night or a second thought. However, while thoroughly enjoying the reading of this, I found that amidst all the touring, side adventures and insights into Tom's personality, something else was going on beneath the surface, something that I didn't quite catch. Tom's attachment to the boy is almost sentimental, yet with his particular practicality he is able to tuck such feelings aside when they are no longer necessary with a coldness that is reminiscient of the Mongibello Ripley. The reader is coerced into believing in Ripley's brighter humanity then ripped away and plunged back into the darkness of his soulessness. By the end of the story, we are again inducted into the cult of Ripley's brand of maleficence.

I was enthralled with "The Talented Mr Ripley" and looked forward to reading this book and was not disappointed. It is not as good of book as Ms. Highsmiths original, however, that being said it has some gut wrenching moments. Tom Ripley becomes the fascination of a wealthy priviledged boy with a troubled past. He seeks out Tom for guidance with a life that much like Tom's, has turned suddenly sureal. Tom can connect with this boy on a level others cannot, however will the boy be able to carry the same kind of burdens Tom has grown accustomed to? That is where the basis of the story lies and shows the difference in how each individual acts under severe circumstances. This one is a good read with a fateful ending.

I just finished this book tonight and was sad to reach the last words - I only have one more Ripley book to go that I have not read, and since the passing of Ms. Highsmith I know regrettably there shall be no more adventures for Tom Ripley after that. I actually paced myself so I could mull this fourth novel in the series over throughout the summer, picking up again where I left off on airplanes, at lunch, and on the bus to work or school. I am very easily drawn into the enticing world of Villeperce and Belle Ombre in the French countryside that Patricia Highsmith has lovingly created for the talented Mr. Ripley to exist in - I am highly disappointed these places are pure fantasy, as I would have enjoyed a pint at Marie and George's bar-tabac with relish. This book is a mixed bag, I think, but still a great read. There are all the wonderful little details that Ms. Highsmith includes that make Tom Ripley a real person for the reader. As referenced by another reviewer, his relationship with his wife Heloise is fascinating to me. Separate beds, stories he doesn't quite share, obviously illegal activities, yet a true sense of devotion that evidences itself in the little presents he loves to buy his wife while on his twisted, dangerous adventures throughout the European continent. Heloise is not stupid, so I am sure she knows exactly what her husband is up to, so she probably doesn't care. There are a lot of marriages like this - maybe she finds Tom's antics entertaining. She does also know of Tom's homosexual leanings...as evidenced by her strong reaction to the arrival of Frank Pierson into Belle Ombre. Heloise realizes that Frank is infatuated with Tom and that Tom is attracted to Frank, whether he admits it or not. Heloise must really love Tom, since a streak of jealousy appears here that is not typically present in her cool, French behavior. She does not like the idea of Tom palling around with an attractive, teenaged American boy. Of course, she does not stop him. Just like she's never stopped Tom from his murdering, art forging, or smuggling for Reeves Minot. That's Heloise for you. I said this book was a mixed bag because you have to suspend a great deal of disbelief to plow through the kidnapping nonsense thrown in the middle. It seems like Ms. Highsmith wanted an excuse to preach about the evils of the Cold War, so she chose a kidnapping run in Berlin as a platform. It is ludicrous to believe that Tom Ripley would have been allowed to become such a guardian to Frank Pierson. If I had run away from home at the age of 16 to find myself in the company of a 30 something expatriate in France, I would think my parents would have made some sort of protest. Instead, the Pierson family seems delighted to meet Tom Ripley and thinks nothing when Frank says he "thought to look Tom up" after hearing his father mention Tom's name once regarding an art deal. In this way Ms. Highsmith intends to connect this book to her others, in which Tom Ripley was involved in a forgery scheme involving a painter named Derwatt. The Dickie Greenleaf affair from the first novel in the series is also referenced frequently, which comes to be a strength of this book. Frank Pierson is plagued by his crime, which Tom Ripley doesn't fathom. He admits to himself that the Greenleaf murder is the only one he feels guilty about, but that the other dozen or so corpses in his wake are as meaningless to him as so many pounds of meat in the Villeperce butcher's shop. And this from a man who can't stand the sounds of lobsters hissing as they are boiled in his French country kitchen. Tom is even more amazing than Heloise at what he chooses to see and not see about himself. What does he think of the fun he had wearing drag in Berlin? Why did he choose that hotel in Chelsea to stay at in New York City when the Waldorf=Astoria or the Pierre would have been the choice of a respected and well-to-do man in town? What exactly is the deal with the very separate bedrooms and the impression Tom gives of loving his marriage, but only for the creature comforts it affords his life? Perhaps Heloise and her friend Noelle are doing more on their adventure cruises together than charting ice flows in the Antarctic. This is what I love about Ms. Highsmith's novels...she leaves a lot of doors open for your own imaginings. Her books end without happy endings and definite answers...so rare today, in a world where Chrichton and Grisham sell the movie rights before their books are even published. She doesn't write with a cinematic eye. These were not screenplays, but actual books meant for people with imagination and intelligence of their own. I plan on re-reading the whole series years from now, since at 25 I don't think I will see the same things in them that I notice now. There is a great paragraph in The Boy Who Followed Ripley about generations, and how there really is no clear break for the 25 year periods that are supposed to define them. The things that define you are what you read, what you listen to, what world events affect you. Time really ceases to matter in the end for all of us.

While folks reading this review have probably read the first three Ripley novels and will probably read the fourth (The Boy Who Followed Ripley) regardless of what I write, let me just say a few words on what to expect. Having read some 20+ Patricia Highsmith novels I have alternated between being a raving fan and a semi-harsh critic of her work. When she is good, she is very good indeed. When she has an off day, her material is just ho-hum. I'm afraid The Boy Who Followed Ripley falls into the latter category.

The Boy Who Followed Ripley has just an interesting premise. A sixteen year-old American rich lad seeks out our rogue Tom Ripley and befriends him. We discover the boy has a dark secret, which he shares exclusively with Ripley. The boy's friendship extends into something like hero-worshipping. At this stage Highsmith could have used some clever homo-erotic angle, which would have been an interesting twist back to the original The Talented Mr Ripley novel, or at least made the boy into some sort of threat to Tom Ripley (..a man with many secrets). But no, the author merely injects some rather unoriginal mystery/criminal handy-panky which involves with boy and Tom Ripley. The only curious bit is that Tom Ripley is the good guy here, which is a bit of disappointment for the fans of the Ripley series.

On a much more minor note, I was unfortunate enough to read a 5-6 year old UK version of this novel. The publisher took liberties in translating many expressions into British slang, which is really appalling since the two main characters in this novel are Americans. It is downright bizarre to read a book where Americans use words like loo (toilet), pissed (drunk) and fag (cigarette). This is the first time I witnessed this in a UK edition Highsmith novel; I hope the most current edition of The Boy Who Followed Ripley is spared from this nonsense.

Bottom line: a very readable, but very mundane Ripley book. Disappointing and, sadly, not recommended.

Book continues Highsmith's tradition of turning detective genres on their head. Ripley demonstrates that when his own nest is adequately feathered, he is able to extend frozenly towards other people. But in making his humanity more apparent, she doesn't violate his basic nature.

Ripley extends himself for the young boy, but doesn't attach himself. He puts himself out, but doesn't become tragically flawed.

Cool and breezy and slick. Continuing the fine Ripley tradition.

No one writes like Patricia Highsmith. She takes the reader inside the mind of a minor villain and one can't help rooting for him. Tom Ripley leads a charmed life in a French villa with his beautiful wife Helene -- even if he does have to commit murder every now and then to keep the charm going. When a young American seeking a role model shows up on Tom's doorstep, Tom takes him in -- and a worse role model than Tom is hard to imagine. Part of what makes the Ripley series so much fun to read is that Highsmith keeps the relative moral compass in balance while the absolute moral compass is totally out of whack.

Out of all the Ripley novels, this being the last instalment of a series of five books focuses more on the central psychological issue that most of the stories touch upon, and that is, having to live with oneself after committing a terrible crime, in this case, murder.

If you are acquainted with any of the Ripley novels, you will understand that their uniqueness lies in the disturbing thoughts and behaviour of its protagonist, as he is thoroughly devoid of conscience, having the capacity to commit murder, usually on a spontaneous whim, and rationalize the crime to such an extent, that we the readers, are totally convinced that the crime was justified. Ripley is a highly likable villain, and a type of villain we want to see succeed. He is cultured, well-mannered, loves his beautiful wife, an expert gardener, appreciates fine art, music and beautiful things, but is capable of incredible heinous acts without a second thought.

In this last novel, Ripley is living quite comfortably at Belle Ombre, his beautiful home in Villeperce, and seems to be heading for an easy retirement. At the café in town, a strange boy turns up, and through a series of events, the two become good friends. As it turns out, the boy is a runaway from the United States, a member of a wealthy family. The boy has a terrible secret, he has committed murder, and he's on the run from his a family and his conscience.

As the tale progresses, Ripley takes on the role of mentor, having murdered many times before, perhaps unconsciously or not, guides the boy psychologically towards a frame of mind or attitude, in order to live with murder. Ripley has the capacity to compartmentalize his thoughts, push his conscience conveniently aside, in order to live with himself. The young lad seems to have the same psychological predisposition, but as the story unfolds, the boy's behaviour points otherwise.

This last Ripley novel is different because Ripley takes on the role of mentor and rescuer, saving the boy from the clutches of some unsavoury characters, performing his unique brand of violence which surprises, leaving the reader cold. But in his role as saviour, we cheer him as he commits these unspeakable acts.

For me at least, the ending of the novel was not predictable, it was both surprising and incredibly sad on many levels. Most of all, this book is disturbing, illustrating the fact that as human beings, we have the capacity to justify virtually anything, including murder.

I was reading some criticism of these books, and particularly the commentary upon Belle Ombre, and the often-absent wife Heloise. The writer feels that the key to the background of the later Ripley novels is domesticity, and that Highsmith wrote them while seeking time off from other darker stories. As such, the house in Villeperce provides a fair haven for Tom and for the author as well. The fact that Heloise is a compliant, non-probing wife suits her nonentity as a character, and one who doesn't threaten Tom's equilibrium, as does the fact that the couple has no children. The plot of "Ripley's Game" may not provide total satisfaction for a reader or from a critic's point of view, but seems in tune with the off-hand and existential approach to Tom's life.

The other Ripley novels pose similar questions, as expressed by other readers in their commentaries. Particularly, the question of how can a person do this or that, appears to this critic to stem from "Strangers on a Train" (1950), and the premise that anyone can influence another person to do something if persistent enough. Other stylistic and moralistic (or amoralistic) aspects are developed in her later books, but they all inherit the legacy of "Strangers --." The complexity of human relations, and going against the grain (as in "The Price of Salt") occupy Highsmith, as she creates tension through irritation, or as Graham Greene describes "The Tremor of Forgery," APPREHENSION.

It would have been nice if Highsmith had been able to continue or resolve the Ripley story, but unfortunately she died too soon. Or, perhaps it is more fitting to her mode and philosophy that Ripley's story has no ending?