The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

This modern classic is really difficult to put down once you start it! I, unfortunately, watched the film adaptation before reading the book and though it did sort of kill the element of surprise for me, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our story begins when our main character, Tom Ripley, meets Herbert Greenleaf and is asked to go on an all expense paid trip to Italy. But, this trip comes with a catch. Tom is tasked with convincing Mr. Greenleaf’s son, Dickie Greenleaf, to come home to New York. The Greenleafs are a super wealthy family, owners of a shipbuilding company and Mr. Greenleaf is wanting Dickie to come and assume his position in the family business. Mr. Greenleaf has not been able to persuade Dickie to come home thus far and he is hoping Tom will have more luck since he is a “good friend of Dickie’s”. Though Tom is hesitant at first, because he is in fact not anything more than an acquaintance of Dickie, in the end he decides to go. Tom is hoping to become good friends with Dickie, become popular and start a new life for himself. The whole rest of the story chronicles Tom’s rise to fame and fortune and all of the mistakes and crimes he made to get there. The very concept of this novel shook me to my core from the start because I am the ~least~ spontaneous person ever. I could not even begin to imagine taking a trip to another country solely to try to befriend someone I barely know. But, I guess that’s why I am the reader and not the writer ;) But, I like this book so much because, like all psychological thrillers it really gets you thinking. There is so much to unpack in this book that I could go on and on for hundreds of words, but I am going to try to just keep my review as short, sweet and interesting as possible.

Psychological thrillers are slowly becoming one of my favorite book genres because I love to be surprised and on the edge of my seat with suspense. Even though my reading experience was a bit spoiled by the film, I still felt very anxious and uncomfortable at times throughout the book because of Tom’s actions. There are numerous times throughout the novel when you wish you could talk Tom off of a ledge and keep him from making a huge mistake. Other times, you almost feel like an accessory to Tom’s crimes and feel just as paranoid as he does about being caught. That is what I love about this book - you get so drawn in that you become emotionally attached to the events, situations and characters. To me, this is the mark of an excellent story.

Tom is a really troubled person who, above all, just wants to be loved and have lots of friends. But, he goes about it the wrong way and nearly gets himself into a heap of trouble numerous times throughout the book. Readers find out early on in the novel that the titular character has had a difficult upbringing which has contributed to his abnormal behavior. Tom’s parents drowned when he was 5 years old, so he was raised by his Aunt Dottie who constantly berated him and called him things like “sissy”. The author includes these back stories in order to help readers understand how Tom came to be the way that he is. Patricia Highsmith does a really excellent job showing readers all of the ends and outs of Tom’s mind throughout this novel and clearly expressing Tom’s sociopathic behaviors. She illustrates all of the mental gymnastics he has to go through in order to not feel guilty for his actions and this is something that really impressed me as a reader. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the novel that shows this phenomenon:

“But the point of the messy house was that the messiness substantiated merely for his own benefit the story that he was going to tell, and that therefore he had to believe himself.”

This quote amazes me so much because it really helps get readers into the mind of the man behind these actions. Tom must have some sort of conscience because he has to actively do the things he intends to lie about in order to believe them himself and be able to tell the lie better. Imagine being so complex and paranoid, planning your every move so closely and actually trying to trick yourself into thinking your lies are true. I am getting dizzy just thinking about it. But that is what makes this book so brilliant and makes Highsmith so wonderful by extension. There are a dozen of moments like these in the novel, but this particular part in the novel just really stood out to me when I read it.

**In an attempt to keep this blog free of important book spoilers, I am going to strategically place all of my spoilers in the paragraph down below and have it covered in black boxes. You can click on the paragraph to toggle. This will allow you to decide if you would like to keep your experience spoiler free or live on the wild side and know a thing or two more about the book. **

Another really interesting aspect of this story is how Highsmith illustrates the difficulties of being a closeted homosexual and how having to hide who you are can bring out the worst in people. Throughout the book, there are numerous instances where readers can see Tom feels ashamed of his sexuality. He tries to hide it, but as he begins to have romantic feelings towards Dickie, it becomes more difficult to hide. In the novel, it hints a few times that Dickie and Marge Sherwood, an important female character within the story, are an item. This confuses Tom and ultimately makes him jealous. Tom feels that sometimes Dickie is reciprocating his romantic feelings and is just hiding them, as Tom does, through Dickie’s heterosexual relationship with Marge. At one point in the story, Dickie says that he is not gay, he does not share Tom’s feelings and he wants Tom to leave Italy. Tom is hurt and does not know how to properly process his feelings of sadness and anger, so he kills Dickie. This segment of the story was difficult for me, because I feel so incredibly sad for Tom and his situation. I wish he did not feel like he has to hide who he is. On the other hand, I also do not at all condone Tom’s actions and wish he would have found a different way to work out his problems and insecurities. I felt that this plot line made the story even more rich and further explains that Tom’s behavior is a result of all the emotional trauma he has suffered.

Final, Personal Opinion of the Book

I really enjoyed this book. I think I would have been absolutely shocked, amazed, obsessed etc. if I had read the book before watching the movie (this is how I felt after watching the movie) so I really encourage you all to read the book first and then watch the movie adaptation with Matt Damon (1999). The book keeps you on your toes and does not end at all how you would expect, in true psychological thriller fashion. I think Highsmith is an excellent writer and I can’t wait to read more from her. Tom Ripley’s story actually continues into three more novels after this one. So, I am excited to read more about him at some point also. If you’ve read this book as well, please let me know what you thought about it!!

Rating

I decided to give this book 4 out of 5 stars because it was absolutely amazing but I personally found the ending to be kind of fantastical and not at all realistic. In addition to this, like I mentioned before, I think my having watched the film first really skewed my reading experience. I highly recommend this book to fellow psychological thriller fanatics and encourage you to reach out to me and let me know your thoughts on the book!

Cover Image
Patricia Highsmith
Psychological Thriller