THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH
Customer Rating: 
Of the five novels in Highsmith's Ripley series, written between 1955 and 1991, only the first, The Talented Mr. Ripley, counts as literature. The others are fun page-turners of no consequence, and the reason is Tom Ripley himself.
In the first book we meet an orphaned nothing who dreams of rising above his poor squalor. We read him from the inside, a modern Raskolnikov whom Highsmith profiles with subtle, sympathetic acuity. The father of a rich, handsome boy Tom met exactly once pays Tom to go to Italy, where that boy, his son, is living off a trust fund, and bring him back to New York to "settle down." Meeting the boy, Dickie Greenleaf, causes Tom to open like a flower toward the radiance of a higher life form. In this first novel, Tom is clearly gay, but Dickie's sexuality is left blank (unlike the movie). Dickie has a girlfriend but tells Tom they are not conjugal and he does not love her. So is Tom meeting Will&Grace? Tom wants to graft himself onto this handsome vine and become Dickie's devoted wife, and after breathless complications caused always by "other people" who won't let Tom edit the scene to his advantage, Tom gets everything he wants except Dickie.
Fifteen years separate the publication of the first from the second novel, but in the story, only three years have passed. Tom is now a hollow, untroubled regular straight guy with a rich wife and serene work-free lifestyle in France. The other four Ripley books simply recount the criminal capers Tom uses to relieve a rich man's boredom.
The first book is a masterpiece of psychology as well as plotting. Nowhere have the consumer yearnings of unformed gay boys been limned so subtly. If you want to understand why Andrew Cunanan shot Gianni Versace, The Talented Mr. Ripley will tell you. The other four novels will tell you nothing; just enjoy them for the pulp they are.
"Don't Wait for the Movie!"
Customer Rating: I disagree with some evaluations of the Ripley novels that say something to the effect of: "The creepy Ripley crawls under your skin and haunts your dreams at night!" These characterizations are somewhat silly and exaggerated. Highsmith creates an intriguing character, to be sure. But this is not a terrifying, creepy, or frightening series of crime novels. In fact, there is a notable lack of dramatic tension in these novels, particularly the last two.
Ripley is a young man with problems who gets caught up in a cycle of murder and deception. He is to blame, of course, and Ripley is troubled, for sure. However, to walk in the shoes of Tom Ripley is to understand the unique brew of social, psychological, intellectual, and emotional forces that lead Tom into murder. Of course, understanding how these forces interact within the psyche of Tom is best left to reading Highsmith. However, I would sum up Ripley by saying that he is an intelligent, efficient and inward character who, despite his violent crimes, is still very relatable in a sinister way.
On a more philosophical and ethical tone it is of note that the Ripley character is one of contrast and also marked development. For instance, in the earlier Ripley we find someone that despises murder and yet still justifies it all easily enough in light of his circumstances. The later Ripley seems much more emotionally/psychologically at ease with murder - he can eat or laugh immediately following the act - yet he seems to recognize that while some murders may have been "necessary" the original sin (the first murder of Dickie) was an act of volition in his own self-interest. There is a reversal here: The later Ripley is more capable of murder, yet finds less justification in his original sin. This is intriguing, and I think it parallels the Genesis account of partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Ripley's eyes are opened to a new moral dimension, and he can never go back to his age of innocence.
Comparison with the Matt Damon movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley:
In the case of the Ripley novel there are some notable departures in the character development of Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf that make the movie perhaps a bit more appealing. For one thing, Highsmith's Dickie character is much more static in the novel, while in the movie they deliberately sought out Jude Law to make the Dickie character alive and dynamic. Even the main character, Ripley, is a bit more complex in the movie. He is battling insecurity on many levels and additionally they introduce a homosexual element, while in the novel Ripley is seen as somewhat asexual - at least in the first novel (The Talented Mr. Ripley). In this sense Matt Damon may have created a Ripley who is even more multi-layered than Highsmith. The result of the differences in character development is that the interaction between Dickie and Ripley is more central in the movie and a more focal point of intrigue. The novel, on the other hand, is more focussed on Ripley's inner world and his ability to navigate through two murders.
For the ultimate Ripley experience I recommend both the books and the move. For me the Ripley from the novel and the Ripley from the movie kind of morph and mesh together to form a character of interest and intrigue. Which Ripley is the real Ripley?!!? Let your own imagination decide.
(three and a half stars) The first is the best
Customer Rating: After seeing "The Talented Mr. Ripley" with Matt Damon, I was interested in learning more about this intriguing character, so I bought this single volume containing Patricia Highsmith's first three Ripley novels (which I understand are much better than the Ripley sequels number four and five). While I can't say, as other reviewers do, that I loved it, it was a worthwhile read, with the first novel being the best. After that, Ripley, while remaining true to his amoral self, becomes too self-confident and domestic for my taste. I probably would have stopped after the second novel if I hadn't bought the trilogy.
Anyway, I've recently reviewed all three novels, which I figured I'd just "cut and paste" here:
The Talented Mr. Ripley -- 4 stars:
Thomas Ripley is approached by Mr. Greenleaf, a successful business man, who asks Tom to travel to a small coastal village in Italy, for the purpose of convincing his son Dickie to return and join the family business. When Tom, financed by Mr. Greenleaf, travels to Italy and meets Dickie (whom he soon befriends and moves in with), he sees what he has always dreamed of being: someone who lives a life of leisure, never works, with no money worries. Tom -- who's probably bisexual -- more than falls in love with Dickie, he actually wants to absorb his friend's persona and become him. He realizes that because of a stronger than passing resemblance, plus prodigious impersonation talents (which include forgery), he can become more and more like Dickie; but he eventually comes to the conclusion, in his typical amoral fashion, that he has to get rid of Dickie in order to truly live the life he wants. The third main character in the book, Marge, is in love with Dickie and jealous of Tom, but never truly understands Tom's complete obsession.
If one has seen the movie, one cannot help but picture Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow (whose "Marge" has a stronger personality than the one in the book)in these roles. I didn't mind that, and could appreciate Patricia Highsmith's taut writing skills and ability to make the reader feel repulsed and sympathetic of Tom simultaneously. Sometimes I found myself routing for Tom, but most of the time I wanted him to get caught. My biggest problem with the book is that I couldn't accept how incompetent the Italian police were. One of the basic principles of a murder investigation is to follow the money trail -- which would lead even the most bumbling investigator to Tom. I doubt that even in the 1950's one could so easily impersonate someone else and get away with it. (The same can be said for "Ripley Under Ground," the next book in the Ripley series, but to an even greater degree).
Although certainly with its flaws, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," delivers as a riveting read about a disturbed but clever man who will stop at nothing to obtain his goals.
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Ripley Under Ground -- 3 stars
Several years after he murdered Dickie Greenleaf and went through the events described in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," we now find a more domesticated Tom Ripley living as a man of leisure in a beautiful old country house with a lovely garden in France, with his young, blond French wife Heloise. Tom, living on the money that Dickie "left" to him (in a fake will drawn up by Tom himself after he murdered Dickie), plus his wife's family's generous allowance, supplements his income (and adds some excitment to a rather staid life) by having a stake in a bogus art dealership that sells paintings from the mysterious Derwatt. Unbeknownst to the general public, Derwatt actually committed suicide years before, and the new Derwatt paintings are being painted by Bernard Tufts, a secret business partner of Tom, who's an expert counterfeiter of Derwatt's art. But what's one to do when this fraudalent scheme is discovered by an avid Derwatt fan?
Though Ripley is now older, wiser and more circumspect than he was in the prior novel, he hasn't changed at all in one respect: he will not let anything or anyone stand in the way of his blissful existence, even if he has to lie, cheat and murder. Still a master of imitation, Ripley also has to assume the role of different persona, including that of Derwatt himself, in order to get away with his various crimes.
The problem I had with "Ripley Under Ground," was the same thing I had with "The Talented Mr. Ripley," but even more so. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how many times Ripley was able to convince the police (here both French and British, as opposed to Italian in the prior Ripley novel) of his complete innocence and non-involvement with the shakiest of alibis and under the deepest suspicion. Ripley explains that he's just unlucky in that people who were last seem with him happen to disappear, and presumably well trained detectives astonishingly accept this after the most cursory of investigation.
What was most frustrating to me is that all the police had to do to figure out the Derwatt ruse, and Ripley's involvement in it, was to follow the money trail. His colleagues at the Derwatt gallery explained that they had no idea where Derwatt lived or how they could locate him. Wouldn't following the money trail be the first thing one would do if someone who's alleging counterfeit paintings was murdered? This avenue of investigation would have led to the discovery of Ripley's involvement in the enterprise, and his entire story would have collapsed like a house of cards.
In short, if you liked "The Talented Mr. Ripley," it's probably worth your while to read "Ripley Under Ground." But the problems of the first Ripley novel are magnified here.
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Ripley's Game -- 3 stars
Since I purchased a single volume which included the trilogy "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Ripley Under Ground," and "Ripley's Game," I felt compelled to read the last installment, even though I probably would have stopped with the second one if purchased one at a time. Alas, "Ripley's Game" didn't thrill me. Sure, we still have the compelling main character who, like a toned down (non-cannabilistic) Hannibal Lechter, wonders whether his wine is properly chilled or how to play a Bach sonata on his newly purchased harpischord right before he bludgeons an enemy's head with a heavy stick. Here, his murderous choices aren't nearly so repugnant as in the two earlier Ripley novels, since those he kills are members of the Italian Mafia.
In fact, the central character of "Ripley's Game" is not Thomas Ripley at all, but Jonathan Trevanny, dying of a fatal blood disease, who sets aside his morals and agrees to murder members of the Mafia for money (paid by Reeves, a "colleague" of Ripley whom we've met before), so that a war might be started amongst the Mafia families. Honestly, as a fan of "The Sopranos," it seemed at times that Highsmith's portrayal of the mob was nothing short of naive and pedestrian. The fight/murder scenes have an odd flatness to them, and are certainly not one of Highsmith's stronger points.
One thing which kind of bothered me was that Ripley's comments to a character named Gauthier - that Trevanny had taken a turn for the worst -supposedly sets certain key events in motion. In fact (and I re-read this part to make sure), it was Gauthier who told Ripley about Trevanny's illness in the first place.
In any event, the character of Thomas Ripley is certainly an intriguing one, and though I'm probably not going to read the two subsequent Ripley novels, someday I'll rent the two movies based on "Ripley's Game."
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