The Talented Mr. Ripley - Softcover

Highsmith, Patricia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014004020X ISBN 13: 9780140040203

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1982

Synopsis

In a chilling literary hall of mirrors, Patricia Highsmith introduces Tom Ripley.  Like a hero in a latter-day Henry James novel, is sent 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 stops at nothing--certainly not only one murder--to accomplish his goal.  Turning the mystery form inside out, Highsmith shows the terrifying abilities afforded to a man unhindered by the concept of evil.

About this title

Review

One of the great crime novels of the 20th century, Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley is a blend of the narrative subtlety of Henry James and the self-reflexive irony of Vladimir Nabokov. Like the best modernist fiction, Ripley works on two levels. First, it is the story of a young man, Tom Ripley, whose nihilistic tendencies lead him on a deadly passage across Europe. On another level, the novel is a commentary on fictionmaking and techniques of narrative persuasion. Like Humbert Humbert, Tom Ripley seduces readers into empathizing with him even as his actions defy all moral standards.

The novel begins with a play on James's The Ambassadors. Tom Ripley is chosen by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf to retrieve Greenleaf's son, Dickie, from his overlong sojourn in Italy. Dickie, it seems, is held captive both by the Mediterranean climate and the attractions of his female companion, but Mr. Greenleaf needs him back in New York to help with the family business. With an allowance and a new purpose, Tom leaves behind his dismal city apartment to begin his career as a return escort. But Tom, too, is captivated by Italy. He is also taken with the life and looks of Dickie Greenleaf. He insinuates himself into Dickie's world and soon finds that his passion for a lifestyle of wealth and sophistication transcends moral compunction. Tom will become Dickie Greenleaf--at all costs.

Unlike many modernist experiments, The Talented Mr. Ripley is eminently readable and is driven by a gripping chase narrative that chronicles each of Tom's calculated maneuvers of self-preservation. Highsmith was in peak form with this novel, and her ability to enter the mind of a sociopath and view the world through his disturbingly amoral eyes is a model that has spawned such latter-day serial killers as Hannibal Lecter. --Patrick O'Kelley

From the Inside Flap

Read by Michael Hayden
Six cassettes / approx. 10 hours

The chilling crime fiction classic--now a major motion picture from Paramount, starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Jude Law, written and directed by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), and produced by Sydney Pollack.

In Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith created the perfect criminal. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, circumstances and opportunities transform him from a petty perpetrator of fraud into a suave, agreeable, and totally amoral artist of crime, who will stop at nothing--certainly not a single murder--to get what he desires.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 014004020X
• ISBN 13: 9780140040203
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256