This was my first Highsmith novel, and it has much to recommend it.

Tom Ripley is approached in a New York City bar by Herbert Greenleaf, a wealthy father despairing that his son Dickie will ever return from Italy and take up the life of a responsible adult. Ripley, who has a slight acquaintance with Dickie and is also indulging in small time income tax collection fraud, senses his opportunity to live a playboy life on the back initially of the money Greenleaf senior has allowed him for expenses.

However, Dickie and his girlfriend Marge don't much care for Tom initially, although Tom's revelation to Dickie that he's fleecing his father thaws relations between the two of them quickly. Unfortunately for Tom, it is destined not to last, especially after Marge catches him dressing up in Dickie's clothes, and Tom must take increasingly drastic action to keep himself in the style to which he has become accustomed.

Although classed as a thriller, it seemed to me this novel breaks many of the genre's conventions, not least the fact that here we have a highly amoral character portrayed in a non-judgemental way. If anything, by portraying Tom's taste for fine art and good food Highsmith invites us to think Ripley a better man than those in the circles in which he now gets to move.

Also, there's no mystery - we are told who committed the crimes, why and how they have rationalised their actions to themselves. The tension comes from seeing if and how they will get away with them. In addition, and what must have been shocking to a mid-1950s audience, are the strong hints of Tom's romantic attraction to Dickie.

Yes, it has moments where one has to suspend disbelief, but, frankly, a lot of thrillers do. You don't read Chandler for the plots. Nevertheless, the result is an atmospheric and slickly written slow burner and an excellent example of the genre. ( )

brilliant! but creepy. ( )

This novel was part of my effort to somewhat upgrade the quality of my reading list. This book was listed as one of the "100 Essentials for Everyman's Library". While it was entertaining enough, it was tedious at times and thus the three star rating.

Best I can tell, the novel is set in the 1930s, first in New York, then in Italy. The style is similar to that used by Herman Wouk in "Youngblood Hawke" and "Marjorie Morningstar", and like the latter, the idiosyncratic language and customes of the period began to rankle after awhile.

At its heart, the novel follows Thomas Ripley, an amoral, sexually confused, mentally disturbed wastrel as he evolves from a freeloading fraud into a psychopathic murderer. Unhappy with the circumstances of his existence, he takes on the personalities and the trappings of the more successful and admired American vagabonds with whom he comes into contact. Though moderately entertaining, the book starts relatively slowly, ramps up near midway through, then runs out of steam near the end. Not a complete waste of time, but certainly not deserving of designation as a classic. ( )

Après les deux films qui en ont été faits, ce roman est devenu culte! J'avais déjà vu le film avec Matt Damon, Jude Law et Gweneth Paltrow, mais malgré le fait que je connaissais la fin, je me suis quand même laissé mener par l'intrigue, les paysages de la Méditerrannée et le dénouement alors que les fils se resserrent autour du meurtrier. Délicieusement amoral, ce mystère vaut sa réputation! ( )

A classic - in which a man who has no sense of connection to other people (other than rampant jealousy) becomes a murderer. A curious, ice-cold novel.