A compelling if a little too detailed and complicated read. Somewhat dated but still relevant. It seems to be that the ending must have been problematic when it was published in 1955. The criminal walks away scot free which is more typical of European than American fiction of the era.

Brilliant, suspenseful, original ( )

I couldn't get interested in this book. The writing was fine, but not outstanding or particularly interesting. The plot was good enough (I did not finish the book though), but not original or woven in a way that grabbed me. The characters were the biggest let down. Ripley should have been a fascinating psychological study but was actually very one dimensional. I just didn't care what happened to him-- and the murders didn't offend me or shock me or anything. I do agree that the book does not seem dated and has aged well. This might be a good airplane or vacation read but wasn't what I was hoping for personally. ( )

Some writers lead you gently into their plot & setting. They let you amble a bit, getting familiar with where you are & who you're with before they get down to business. It's like being at a cocktail party with a socially skilled hostess who escorts you, introduces you, & provides some conversation starters before leaving to fend for yourself. Patricia Highsmith is not interested in being a good hostess. In this book you are plopped down into Tom Ripley's world & essentially told to sink or swim. You should swim. It's an interesting world.

I came to this book via the Anthony Minghella film. The film was wonderful in its own way - good acting, good writing, good setting, good music, great cinematography. I generally hate it when people turn books into movies because they often do it so poorly, but this is a good version of the book, although different in some aspects. The performance in the film that really sticks with me is that of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles - a minor character in the book who is more fleshed out in the movie to, I thought, good effect. Hoffman's entrance in the film is breathtaking - driving up in his fiat convertible, climbing out over the hood, all predatory sleaze & sexiness. Amazing.

The thing the film does poorly is Tom Ripley. In the film, Tom kills Dickie Greenleaf because he is a closeted homosexual who has fallen in love with Dickie & Dickie rejects him. The plot diverges further by giving Tom a different (& true) male lover who he ends up having to kill because of his game of pretending to be Dickie Greenleaf. This makes for a nice tidy Hollywood story, but the real one, the story in the book is so much chillier & more real. You see, Tom doesn't kill Dickie because he wants to be with Dickie. Tom kills Dickie because he wants to BE Dickie - & he does it admirably well.

Highsmith didn't believe in tidy moral endings & one is not provided in this novel (to its overall benefit, frankly). Rather, Highsmith builds a complex portrait of a very blank person. Tom Ripley isn't much of anything or anyone - there's no there there. He is a cipher, an actor on the stage of life performing for his supper & taking up roles as they suit his need. When given the chance to assume Dickie's good life - his wealth, his social ease, his Gucci luggage - Tom jumps at the chance. It's wonderful in its own twisted way & beautifully handled by this author.

The lack of a tidy moral ending may give some readers pause - after all, we're used to our fictional criminals being punished in various ways (cf., Hannibal Lecter). For me this is one of the major strengths of the book & in a way made it all more plausible. Think of how many crimes must be committed in any given place on any given day & how many of those crimes go undetected or unpunished. Being caught & being convicted, despite all of our wonderful science, frequently comes down to some combination of skill & luck & Tom has both in abundance. You find yourself cheering him on & that's maybe the most disturbing thing of all because Tom really isn't a very nice person. He's not much of a person at all.

Where Tom & his interior monologue is all blank & flat & gray, the world of objects (the Gucci bag, Dickie's blue-and-white striped shirt, the art books Tom is able to purchase with Dickie's money) is super real as is Italy & all the rest of Europe. Tom's awareness of his physical surroundings is deep & intense & the descriptions of Italy & of Paris are colorful & rich & warm in all the ways Tom is not.

This is a deceptively simple read that is hiding something complex & interesting. Highly recommended. ( )

An amazing book. It didn't seem dated at all, just felt completely modern. It certainly inspires me to read the rest of the sinister Ripley tales. Brilliant. ( )