Book info

• Title The Talented Mr Ripley
• Author Patricia Highsmith
• Year 1955
• Genre Thriller

Tom Ripley travels to Italy with a commission to coax a prodigal young American back to his wealthy father. But Ripley finds himself very fond of Dickie Greenleaf. He wants to be like him - exactly like him. Suave, agreeable and utterly amoral, Ripley will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal.

Thoughts

I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s been in my pile to read for a while, but I only dug it out because I recently watched the Netflix adaptation that was so, so good. Having now read it, I’m impressed with what a faithful adaptation it was, with differences only towards the end. The start of the book was high quality and I was completely engrossed in the journey of Tom as he approached Dickie and started to enmesh himself in his life.

If I’m being honest, it got less interesting in the second half, once the murders had been completed, as it felt like we just followed Tom around various European cities and listened to his inner monologue about what might happen, who he had told what lie to, and his feelings about the future. Fine, but it just went on for too long with not enough interaction with other characters. I understand there are four sequels after this book, but I’m not sure whether I want to give them a go or just leave well alone.

Rating: 3 / 5