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Patricia Highsmith

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Talented MR Ripley Paperback – January 1, 1999

by Patricia Highsmith (Author)

4.3 7,214 ratings

Book 1 of 5: Ripley

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Since his debut in 1955, Tom Ripley has evolved into the ultimate bad boy sociopath, influencing countless novelists and filmmakers. In this first novel, we are introduced to suave, handsome Tom Ripley: a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s. A product of a broken home, branded a "sissy" by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend, Dickie Greenleaf. This fondness turns obsessive when Ripley is sent to Italy to bring back his libertine pal but grows enraged by Dickie's ambivalent feelings for Marge, a charming American dilettante. A dark reworking of Henry James's The Ambassadors, The Talented Mr. Ripley—is up to his tricks in a 90s film and also Rene Clement's 60s film, "Purple Noon."

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Popular Highlights in this book

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If you wanted to be cheerful, or melancholic, or wistful, or thoughtful, or courteous, you simply had to act those things with every gesture.
Highlighted by 720 Kindle readers
His stories were good because he imagined them intensely, so intensely that he came to believe them.
Highlighted by 713 Kindle readers
Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than his experiencing.
Highlighted by 566 Kindle readers

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0099282879
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (January 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780099282877
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099282877
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 0.67 x 7.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #267,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16,989 in Crime Thrillers (Books)
- #18,270 in Suspense Thrillers

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4.3 7,214 ratings

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Patricia Highsmith

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Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was the author of more than twenty novels, including Strangers on a Train, The Price of Salt and The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as numerous short stories.

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4.3 out of 5

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Kindle Customer

Good read with lots of detail

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024

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I have enjoyed the movies and TV series based upon these books, and decided to read the books themselves.
I have not been disappointed
The best part is that the details in the book make many things more clear that either the movies or the series did.
Good book. A. Well-done

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H. Williams

A suspenseful thriller (with hints of queerness) about the psychology of narcissism and the creation of an identity

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014

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In March 2014, a great group discussed "The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith at The LGBT Center in NYC. (Highsmith, a lesbian, also wrote "Strangers on a Train," which Alfred Hitchcock turned into a masterful movie that kept the gay subtext. There are interesting parallels between "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train.")

Everyone liked this book a lot and some loved it, but most had a few quibbling reservations. Mostly, we were surprised at the empathy Highsmith could get us to feel toward a murderer. We all want to cheer for the underdog, but this seemed like an extreme accomplishment for the author.

Someone raised the question (especially after reading "The Charioteer" by Mary Renault a few months ago), why is it that women in the '50's could write about gay men so openly and so well? Is there any parallel to gay or straight men at any time writing so clearly about lesbians?

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" must be a period piece: Modern police practice (think of "CSI" or any "Law and Order" franchise or even "Columbo") would never allow Tom Ripley to get away with his paper-thin deceptions. So the fascination with the story comes from several other points.

Tom is clearly queer and Highsmith has interesting ways to signal his queerness and his life on the "down low" in 1955. Again, Highsmith writes openly and yet subtly about Tom's queerness, but those of use who have learned to read between the lines clearly recognize Tom as gay gay gay. We raised the question but never fully decided whether or not his first victim, Dickie (Dickie?!?) Greenleaf, was queer or Tom was jealous of Dickie, or he was a love-interest that needed to be moved out of the way for Tom to assume his rightful role.

The most interesting aspect of the novel is the adopting of a new identity. The psychology of Tom Ripley is fascinating. He's a narcissist but the reasons for it (such as being raised by a dragon-lady aunt) as well as his early con games and acting lessons that lead to his full-fledged sociopathology is something to follow carefully. Slowly he tests becoming another person before he quickly fills the role and then jumps back out of it, as required. There's also something very 1950's (and unhealthily) queer about Tom's attitudes toward women. Without the nearly perfect psychologizing, the book could merely be viewed as a tract on how sometimes evil does triumph over good.

There were a few reservations: At times the book can seem a bit plodding with unnecessary characters and red herring occurrences. Whether this is because authors of the period felt the need to give a full-length book, or the convention of psychological and suspenseful mysteries require them seemed unclear.

Ultimately, the book is about identity: how we form it in ourselves, and how a duplicitous character can bend it to become someone else. And, like all thrillers, how can luck play a major part in covering and uncovering a murderer.

18 people found this helpful

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Lost in L.A.

A completely compelling read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

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Patricia Highsmith’s deep dive into the mind of a sociopath…along with a terrific travelogue of Europe in the 1950s. Planning now to read the whole series.

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Daniel Gamboa

The Talented Ms. Highsmith

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2016

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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 plot surpasses the line of reality and reason. In addition, I wish that Dickie and Marge had been developed a bit more in depth, considering the important role they play in justifying some of Tom's actions, because Tom's attitude towards them can seem gratuitous.

Despite these minor flaws, this is one of my favorite novels by the talented Ms. Highsmith, who is also one of my favorite writers.

51 people found this helpful

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Nicole Zilic

Several typos

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024

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This review is on the physical book. I was surprised by the number of typos in this edition. But otherwise, does the job.

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2023

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I truly enjoyed this book. I actually liked the movie made from this book and loved comparing the two. But what I did not know was that there are at least 3 more books to this series, so once again I have chosen a book that has no specific ending and is dependent upon further books to see the true ending of the book. For that reason alone, I took off one star. I am sure I will eventually read the following books, it was just disappointing to end so abruptly.

3 people found this helpful

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Snkmn

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024

Verified Purchase

Patricia Highsmith is a woman before her time. Ripley is a sociopathic conman whose many modern incarnations are made into streaming documentary or docudrama specials.
Sure it’s a bit dated but it is a riveting story.

5 people found this helpful

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claudia

Nice

Reviewed in Italy on April 30, 2024

Verified Purchase

Fair price

Joachim

Twisting story

Reviewed in Germany on April 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

Good and entertaining read

sandeepa

Possibly a pirated copy

Reviewed in India on September 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

I am around 40 pages into the book and that is very fast for me. Beyond this I need not comment on the classic.
The copy I received has poor quality paper. The cover feels like wrapping paper with ink coming off from words at many places. Possibly a pirates copy. Didn't return because it cam at a good discount and I needed to start reading immediately.

One person found this helpful

R. Marie

Très bonne intrigue

Reviewed in France on February 11, 2023

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Après avoir vue le film il y a quelques années j'étais curieuse de lire le lire. Il faut oublier le film car le livre n'est pas tout a fait le même . J'ai quand même beaucoup apprécié le livre. Cela me donne envie de lire le reste de la série.

One person found this helpful

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Everton Gomes dos Santos

Delicioso

Reviewed in Brazil on January 7, 2020

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Um livro intrigante. Com uma história surpreendente. Rápido e bem divertido!

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