The Talented Mr. Ripley

Like most life-long reading addicts, I have a few authors who I’ve always known about, mean to read but somehow haven’t yet got around to. And then when you do, prompted by some radio broadcast, a memory or a recommendation, you ask yourself, “Why did it take me so long to get into reading this brilliant stuff?” (cf Mrs Gaskell & Edit Wharton in my case, but not yet Henry James or George Eliot). I have vague memories of the film, watched on TV some years after it was made, mainly because of the glorious Italian location shots to remind me of living in Italy. I enjoyed Dickie’s smart boat, and the stellar performances by Jude Law and Matt Damon, but not the irritating and now I’ve read the book, totally miscast, one by Gwyneth Paltrow (but then she always irritates me). I remember that Ripley killed Greenleaf and assumed his identity and a few dreamy shots of a Venetian Palazzo, and that was about it. So, I was really enjoying the book and thinking how clever it was of the author to get us rooting for a psychopath – quite the reversal of a usual murder mystery. But then this wasn’t a mystery, really. Other than how he got away with it (largely aided by coincidence, some manic plot diversions, and as far as I could tell, by Ripley’s superhuman strength.) It was never explained to my satisfaction how he actually managed to physically do all the things he had to in order to get rid of his corpses. I quite liked the fact that the Italian police were not portrayed as incompetent dullards. I think this was meant to point up Ripley’s exceptional cleverness and planning skills, but still, you were left with the feeling that although no one could pin anything on him, he was not actually cleared of all suspicion. Highsmith herself sounds like one of the most unpleasant people conceivable and it’s a disturbing thought that she felt that Ripley virtually wrote himself as some sort of outpouring of her inner psyche. She is now being taken up after a bit of a hiatus, as a poster girl for feminist/lesbian writers. Overall, despite having to suspend my disbelief occasionally, and feeling that she was writing a bit of a descriptive travelogue for less well-travelled Americans, I really enjoyed this. So much so, that I went straight on to the next book, the first chapter having been helpfully provided at the end of my Kindle version. I wish I hadn’t, as this is where it all ended in tears for me. However, that is technically not part of this review, and I give Mr Ripley & his Talents a solid 4 stars.

It’s no surprise that Highsmith could construct a thriller. She has such a hold on human nature and internal emotions that the story is gripping from the start. I haven’t seen the movie so was completely surprised by the plot. Ready for a good book club discussion !

I doubt that I will ever like another antiheroe as much as Tom Ripley. Maybe Dorian Gray? Almost. Tom Ripley is sent to Europe by Mr. Greenleaf to bring his son, "Dickie", back to the United States. Tom is a nobody who is bedazzled by Dickie's rich and bohemian lifestyle once he meets him in Southern Italy. Tom becomes Dickie's friend, and everything seems fine until Tom decides he wants to be more than his friend. As in the "Picture of Dorian Gray", you will not learn life lessons or come out as a better person from reading "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and that is why I like him: he is a real character, like there are so many among us, who also deserves to be the star of books. Why is he one of my favorite characters in literature? “I can’t make up my mind whether I like men or women,” he jokes, “so I’m thinking of giving them both up.” “They were not friends. They didn't know each other. It struck Tom like a horrible truth, true for all time, true for the people he had known in the past and for those he would know in the future: each had stood and would stand before him, and he would know time and time again that he would never know them, and the worst was that there would always be the illusion, for a time, that he did know them, and that he and they were completely in harmony and alike. For an instant the wordless shock of his realization seemed more than he could bear.” "He loved possessions, not masses of them, but a select few that he did not part with. They gave a man self-respect. Not ostentation but quality, and the love that cherished the quality. Possessions reminded him that he existed, and made him enjoy his existence. It was as simple as that. And wasn't that worth something? He existed. Not many people in the world knew how to, even if they had the money. It really didn't take money, masses of money, it took a certain security." “He remembered that right after that, he had stolen a loaf of bread from a delicatessen counter and had taken it home and devoured it, feeling that the world owed a loaf of bread to him, and more.” “If you wanted to be cheerful, or melancholic, or wistful , or thoughtful, or courteous, you simply had to act those things with every gesture.” In addition to this wonderful character, Patricia Highsmith's skills as a writer are to be highlighted. Tom's joy about the anticipation of having his dreams come true and his apprehension about the possibility of such dreams being shattered are a delight to read. I could not help siding with him the entire time, despite the fact that he is anything but a role model. I do have an issue with the credibility of the plot at times. Perhaps, the guilibility of the characters in this novel reflects that of people's at a certain place and time - rich Americans and the Italian police of 1955 Italy - but sometimes the pl...

A slightly different beast than the film. Tom is a creature of nature. A pure sociopath. He seems to want to get caught sometimes as he pushes things to tell edge. The novel builds tension well and makes Tom a fascinating, but irredeemable character.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” is a good, quick read. Tom Ripley is a fascinating character, self-obsessed and utterly amoral. But, like many mystery/crime novels, the book is written in a kind of shorthand, with clues to both the plot and the participants dropped almost with “Look here!” signs. Further, various elements of the plot are just barely believable, leaving the reader willing to accept them within the context of the story, but more than a little skeptical about them on further consideration. None of this makes the story unenjoyable, it just makes it a bit more a fine piece of its genre than a great book.