Customer Reviews

The Talented Mr. Ripley

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1 star:		(7)

 

 

As good as the new movie is, Highsmith's novel offers details that let you know from the beginning that Tom Ripley is not your average 'good boy gone wrong.' His little game with the IRS in the first chapter displays a kind of cat-like cruelty abscent from Matt Damon's character. His ability at mathamatics, especially finance, was also replaced with music in the film, perhaps to move the story along, but abstract calculation is the key to Tom's 'success'. And Tom's final touch of forging Dickie's will is much more convincing than the 'gift' of part of the trust fund in the film. This is the first of Highsmith's five Ripley stories. The first three are stunning, frightening, and wonderful, as we watch Ripley evolve in power and confidence. The last two are interesting but as Tom grows mature and secure, he also grows complacent. While he is always cunning, in 'The Boy That Followed Ripley' and 'Ripley Under Water' he is very slow to anger and his 'crimes' are more like selfdefense. Another thing missing from the film that permeates the novels is Highsmith's drole humor. Tom Ripley's stories are quite funny if viewed with an eye toward reality. No one can possibly be so reprehensibly lucky. I've often tried to imagine what his astrological chart must look like.

I read this novel with a great deal of interest and anticipation and I was not disappointed. What can one say about the "talented" Patricia Highsmith that has not already been said. I loved this novel and I loved the way that Highsmith, so cleverly and astutely enters into the mind and tortured psyche of what could now be considered a modern day sociopath. Even though you know Tom Ripley is bad and what he does to Dickie is wrong, you really do wish he will get away with it. Tom Ripley is the ultimate anti-hero: calculatingly cruel yet strangely vulnerable. The author does a dashing job in conveying Tom's fears, longings, desires and upsets.

Onother highlight of the novel is its fabulous settings: Southern Italy has never looked so beautiful along with Venice, Cannes, and Paris. This novel makes for an extremely exotic, fascinating read and it also works as a wonderful portrait of a figure who has strangely removed himself from others and from society. Patricia Highsmith manages to embody the spirit of Italy while at the same time writing a terrific suspense thriller.

Michael Leonard

After I saw the film, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", I was anxious to read the book for two reason. First of all, I had been very impressed with the delicate manner in which Anthony Mangela reworked "The English Patient" into film, so I was curious to see if he had done so here as well. Secondly, I loved the idea of the story and was curious about the writer.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a wonderful novel on several levels. It is different, it is highly suspenseful and in its own way it is believable. Did I come away from the book believing that anyone could get away with so bold and complex a crime? No. Did I find Tom Ripley to be a believable character? Absolutely.

Highsmith's gift in part is to make us empathize with Tom Ripley. In a subtle and understated way, we are drawn to Tom Ripley. While his motives and actions may be morally repellent, his feelings and judgment are oddly agreeable. His crummy friends in New York remind me of the crummy friends that I could not wait to abandon there. His sense of purpose and his deliberate role playing on the journey to Italy are probably common to every young man on his first major voyage. Ripley's attitude and experience have enough in common with us that we are drawn in. We are drawn in to the point that we eventually realize with a start that we are empathizing with a premeditated murderer.

Highsmith does not make a social commentary about the potential killer in all of us. Instead, she adds enough common touches to the killer to make us become his unwitting sympathizers.

The book also serves as a refreshing travelogue. Highsmith is clearly well traveled and she uses her experiences well. In the hands of a less adept writer, Ripley would have been annoying and the tone of the book too pretentious. As it were, Highsmith writes with great subtlety and skill.

Mangela's adaptation of the book departs significantly from the original. Never the less, it is as authentic and well made as his adaptation of "The English Patient".

One of the great strengths of this book is the Authors ability to develop the theme of hero worship, its drug like highs and its dangerous lows. As Tom Ripley enters Dickie Greanleafs world Tom begins to idolize Dickie and the life Dickie so effortlessly lives. Most everyone growing up has idolized another, whether it be the highschool quarterback, the prom queen, the affluent, or the gifted artist. The adoration one feels towards a hero is a mixture of loyalty, obsession and unrealistic expectation. What happens when a person actually is able to get close to their idol? What happens when an idol becomes bored with a loyal follower? Ms. Highsmith reveals the darker side of desire and the intrigue that follows. The need for friendship and acceptance are the key factors that keep us as readers connected to Tom even though he is a murderer. Ms. Highsmith has chosen to explore the darker side of rejection and the effects on the participants. This book will hit you on many different levels and you will think about this story long after you have read through it. A true masterpiece!

Tom Ripley: the name conjures up an image of the all American boy--a little shy, modest and not as suavely in control as a European counterpart. The old adage that one should not judge a book by its cover could not be a truer in this instance. Poor, underprivledged Tom takes his pursuit of the American dream a little too seriously, yet he manages to pull off unbelievable and almost unspeakable acts with the finesse and skill of a master jeweler and the audacity of a veteran politician. Highsmith's impressionistic style enables the reader to get into Ripley's all too calculating mind while viewing his mild mannered sidebars with a droll aplomb. The transition from cornered felon to cold murderer flows unperturbed into one's mind unquestioningly. Ripley's activities are deemed acceptable and surprisingly the reader is not shocked. On the contrary, one finds oneself rooting for him to dupe or subdue anyone who gets in his way. Anyone who has seen the 1999 movie offering starring Matt Damon, will not be satisfied with its director's interpretation of Tom's motives. Instead of the cold, enigmatic, amoral, asexual goal-seeker of the book, the audience is confronted with a flawed nobody who is definitely less than Highsmith's Ripley. The movie version is a haunted soul attracted to homosexuality, buoyed by a yearning for the post WWII dolce vita of America's privledged class and incensed with the underdog's cowed yet vengeful need to fight back when shunned and bested by his so-called betters. Although the movie is highly entertaining, and Damon's performance is commendable, Highsmith's Ripley is reduced to what we are all too familiar with--an unfortunate product of dysfunctional 20th century life who would benefit greatly from prolonged sessions with the best Park Avenue psychiatrist, whereas the 'hero' of the book is perfectly happy with who he is and the decisions he makes to further entrench himself on the path he has chosen. Bravo Ripley!

Where has this book been for the last 45 years? Amazingly, Patricia Highsmith weaves a story that is just as fresh and believable today as when she published it in 1955. The characters are compelling, intriguing, and as a reader you find yourself snared in the ever deepening complexities that Mr. Ripley faces. Also, I found myself facinated by and amazingly sympathetic to Tom Ripley, at times even rooting for him against the established, moneyed, empty cultured lifestyle he both despises and longs for.

In addition, the ending is a bit unexpected, but one I had secretly hoped for...it will be hard for the movie to top this piece of fiction. Enjoy!

How does a pyschotic's mind work? Patricia Highsmith takes the reader into the unanchored nature of Tom Ripley's personality and his simple, amoral approach to the world. This is especially well conveyed after he's perfected his impersonation of Dickie Greenleaf and has been living as Dickie for a while, when he reminds himself to practice his Tom Ripley voice so he can switch to it in a second if necessary -- so completely has he taken on the mannerisms and social polish of someone else. His talent is psychological shape-shifting. While he's being interviewed by the Italian police, it's as though he's impersonating Tom Ripley, the shy and humble fellow who, in fact, he will never be again. Novels always give you more information than the movies made from them, and so here we are privy to Tom's inner life: his frequent fear of discovery, ability to rally quickly into feelings of triumph and defiance, contempt for other people, shame over his former life in the States, satisfaction about his self-improvement (learning Italian, discovering art), even regret about the murders -- but not a moment of guilt or remorse, not a single pang of conscience. His homosexuality is less realized than it is in the movie, despite the fact that Marge thinks he's queer and he denies it to Dickie. Although Ripley fantasizes about spending the rest of his life with Dickie "like a brother," Highsmith omits or isn't interested in any possible carnal details. It's as though this lost boy is too removed from any real human connection to have a sexual impulse. Like an impressionable child, he worships Dickie's savoir faire, good looks, fine clothes, freedom and wealth. Highsmith's writing is a tad flat in places as she hurries over plot mechanics to return to character and situation, and I found myself wondering, along with Ripley, why no one, not even Marge, catches on to all the clues pointing to the fact that he is directly involved in Dickie's disappearance. (The movie cuts us some slack, and adds emotional resonance, by letting us identify with Marge's realization of the truth.) But it's an easy read and Highsmith has some nicely observed minor characters and describes interiors so you can visualize them. The complex plot elements are taken care of by the end, and the final sentence caps the story with a satisfying flourish.

One of the real achievements of Patricia Highsmith's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY is the way that the author allows us to sit both inside and outside the title character. From the inside, she makes us understand the miseries and insecurities that drive her psychopath. From the outside, she makes us understand how his ambitions have warped his taste and perceptions. Tom Ripley's fascination with lazy socialite and would-be painter Richard 'Dickie' Greenleaf seem driven almost entirely by his desperation to be as comfortable and confident as the latter. Stripped of the money and the self-confidence that it inspires, Greenleaf is a mediocre painter and a even less worthwhile as a human being; an empty charmer who picks up people when they amuse them and drops them with equal ease. One of the funniest aspects of the book is the poisonous resentment that boils between Ripley and Greenleaf's girlfriend Marge Sherwood, another rich kid with artistic pretentions (they are each convinced that opposite party has a close reationship with Greenleaf that they have been shut out of). And as the tensions of this particular relationship reach the boiling point, Ripley slips into homicidal violence with frightening ease. The title of the book packs an ironic wallop. Tom Ripley is bright, energetic, and possessed of real taste and discrimination. And the only goal to which they are applied is stealing the life, so to speak, of a wealthy layabout. The sense of waste is palpable.

Highsmith creates both an engaging story and an unforgettable character in this novel. By leaving so much unsaid, and only hinting at the origins of his behavior, she lets your mind wander into the subtext, trying to figure out how Ripley ended up this way.

The novel is definitely worth reading even if you've seen the movie. Highsmith's Ripley is more understated and less of a leech than the film's version. He's stronger in the book, and somehow that strength makes him even more of a compelling character.

The supporting characters -- Madge, Dickie, etc -- are well-drawn, too. In some cases, Highsmith's characters are so perfectly crafted, you want to do them in, too.

When I picked up this book, I expected second-tier detective fiction, but I was pleasantly surprised by about the third page when it hit me -- all of a sudden -- how well Highsmith can write. She takes great care with each sentence, a care that you see too infrequently in detective fiction (and fiction generally, IMO).

You'll be intrigued, too, by Highsmith's sense of timing. Several times in the book, things are going along "normally" and just as you're starting to say to yourself, "Hmmm this is starting to get a little slow," BAM! Something crazy happens, and then, you can't put the book down.

So, if you haven't seen the movie, read the book for the character, story, and good writing. If you have seen the movie, read the book for an alternative portrayal of Ripley, and some filling-in of the gaps.

Finally, if you liked this book, check out Lew McCreary's "The Minus Man", about a similar character, and just as well written.

The story of Tom Ripley's trip to Italy and what he did there stands alongside some of the most hair-raising and well written novels of all time.

Discarded by several as "pulp" when it was first published in the 50s, this novel has many layers to it, revealing each time one reads it, more insight and quirky turns on the personality of Tom Ripley which are there from the very beginnig, just too well disguised.

The beautiful european settings, just add a sense of sinister foreboding to the story as it unfolds... the haunting acts of unspeakable violence Tom is driven to, are a notorious counterpoint to the sunny Mongibello and romantic Venice.

Marge Sherwood comes across as a most interesting character, ambiguous yet passionate and an excellent nemesis to the young and talented (yet terribly scared) Mr. Ripley.

A novel that delivers and surprises.