Mystery Book # 71 - The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

.

Reading The Talented Mr. Ripley got me thinking about the movie version with Matt Damon. First I'll say that while reading this book I couldn't not imagine Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow as Tom Ripley, Dickie Greenleaf and Marge. I didn't remember too many specifics from the film but had a general remembrance of the plot... and then while reading about the film version I saw that it came out way back in 1999! That was fourteen years ago! How has it been that long since? I would have guessed maybe seven or eight years. Time really does fly.

Anyway, the book is about this guy Tom Ripley who is sent to Italy by a business man to tr y and talk the man's son, Dickie, into returning home to America. Tom and Dickie become best pals and decide to have a good time spending Dickie's dad's money instead. This in itself doesn't sound like the most interesting plot... but Tom is also a sociopath and becomes jealous of Dickie and pretty much wants to become Dickie and live his life instead. So, *SPOILER* when Dickie tries to cut Tom loose, Tom murders Dickie and takes over his identity. The second half of the novel is Tom trying to fool the people that know Dickie into thinking that Dickie is still alive somewhere in Europe, and trying to convince people that don't know Dickie that he is actually Dickie. It all gets complicated.

I really enjoyed the novel. Highsmith really brings the reader into Ripley's head and it was interesting to see a murder mystery from the point of view of the murderer. From his viewpoint it seems funny that no one is able to figure out the mystery when really it is so simple. He is able to fool Dickie's girlfriend into thinking that Dickie has left her to travel and at one point meets the same detective as Dickie and later as himself. Somehow nobody figures it out. Tom Ripley is a fascinating character, totally without empathy or guilt, and I might have to read some of the other books in this series someday. This one gets and A.

Oh yeah... it also mentions one of our top 100 books, The Ambassadors.