18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Country Gentleman Killer, January 7, 2000
In this book, written almost forty years after "The Talented Mr. Ripley", our hero has matured in many ways. Ripley is now a living abroad as a country gentleman with a beautiful wife, a home, and a refined taste in art. Even more interesting is the manner in which Ripley's criminal mind has matured. He has evolved from thief and confidence trickster to the more dignified crime of forgery. Now he has friends and confidants of many years to assist him. He also has a string of murders behind him and several implacable enemies including, vulgar American named Prichard who is determined to expose his crimes.
Despite Ripley's tarnished history, we quickly come to see him as the unfair victim of the obnoxious, meddlesome Prichard. So what if he's forged a few paintings and killed some people? After all, Ripley is a cultured gentleman-he's a painter, musician, and polyglot with all the trappings of a successful businessman. We know that Ripley kills but only as a last resort and often with regret. Prichard on the other hand, makes a career of victimizing people. His battle with Ripley is not a moral crusade as much as a sadistic whim.
In the oddest and perhaps the most brilliant part of the novel Ripley is reading Richard Ellman's biography of Oscar Wilde to take his mind off of Prichard's threatening activities. He finishes the book (it is an excellent biography of Wilde, by the way) and compares Prichard's activities to the Marquis of Queensbury's legal assault on Wilde and to the Persecution of Christ. Ripley concludes that in all three situations, the rough and the low-born attack the refined. It's a bit of a stretch but it works. Ripley the murderer becomes victim and martyr.
Since almost all of the crime in this novel has already been committed in the past, the reader experiences it in Ripley's recounting of past experiences. Even the removal of Prichard is more of a fortuitous even then premeditated murder. The tension and "edge" in this novel comes not so much from actions as the thoughts and words that accompany those actions. At one point Ripley admonishes a less determined accomplice not to bother saving the dying Prichard. His tone is stern, ruthless, and utterly devoid of any moral consideration.
I'm not surprised that a lot of Ripley fans did not like this book since it is largely psychological and lacks the frenetic action of "The Talented Mr. Ripley". But "Ripley Under Water" is a superb thriller in its own right with a lot of wonderful touches. I found the older, refined, Tom Ripley to be a completely believable character. Just go to a college reunion some time and you'll notice that all of the nihilists and trouble makers you went to school with are now the nicest parents and spouses. So it is with Ripley, the country gentleman.
Similarly his nemesis, Prichard is believable in his own right. In the end isn't it American culture that has come to France to attack its refined fugitive?
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ripley series ends with whimper..., October 17, 2001
It is a shame Patricia Highsmith was unable to sustain her brilliance throughout all of her novels. Even the Ripley series has its slow moments. I had hoped the final Ripley novel from Highsmith would be one of her better works; some of the amazon.com reviews looked promising. But sorry to say, Ripley Under Water is just average Ripley fare.
Ripley Under Water starts off with such a wonderful premise. Tom Ripley is being hounded by a fanatic who for some inexplicable reason senses Ripley's murderous past, and is determined to make Ripley's life miserable as he uncovers the truth. But unfortunately Highsmith doesn't turn on the anxiety as expected, and the story has a rather unsatisfactorily flat ending. Beyond this, Highsmith spends so much time re-telling tidbits of the early Ripley novels ... as if there are potential readers who decided to start off on this book rather than follow in sequence (not likely, and not advisable).
But Ripley Under Water works very well in one aspect: the Ripley ambiance. It is amazing how Highsmith can capture the feeling of the characters and the setting so consistently throughout the Ripley series, a series spanning some 30+ years. She spends so much time detailing Tom Ripley's behaviour at being ... Tom Ripley! Enjoyable to an extent, but this too wears thin.
Bottom line: a satisfactory read for Highsmith fans only.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tasty cat and mouse game, March 10, 2000
I have read all of the Ripley books in sequence, and am delighted to find that this last effort is the best since the "Talented" character appeared. It shares the flavor of "Strangers on a Train," that squirmy, claustrophibic quality of having control pulled from your grasp. Ripley is fascinating to me -- a completely amoral character for whom you feel sympathy -- and I find him at his most haunted and haunting in this book. My one regret: It is the final Ripley adventure.
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