The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Published by Audible Studios, W. W. Norton Company on June 17th 2008
Genres: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Pages: 273
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 9780393332148
ASIN: B00714Q732
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Since his debut in 1955, Tom Ripley has evolved into the ultimate bad boy sociopath, influencing countless novelists and filmmakers.
In this first novel, we are introduced to suave, handsome Tom Ripley: a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s. A product of a broken home, branded a "sissy" by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend, Dickie Greenleaf. This fondness turns obsessive when Ripley is sent to Italy to bring back his libertine pal, but he grows enraged by Dickie's ambivalent feelings for Marge, a charming American dilettante.
A dark reworking of Henry James's The Ambassadors, The Talented Mr. Ripley-immortalized in the 1998 film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gywneth Paltrow-is an unforgettable introduction to this debonair confidence man, whose talent for self-invention and calculated murder is chronicled in four subsequent novels.
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The Talented Mr. Ripley by the late Patricia Highsmith is a character study couched in a travelogue and commentary on life among the upper classes. The character being studied is Tom Ripley, an amoral bad boy I should hate but find oddly endearing. He’s not your typical sociopath and some reviewers have even questioned whether he meets the criteria at all. He is a person who lives inside his own head, who cares what others think, who has the capability of inventing stories to assuage his guilt and to justify his misdeeds that are so detailed and elaborate he actually believes them. He can take on the persona of a friend when the need arises or just eliminate that friend altogether if that works better. He is the quintessential practitioner of situational ethics except with Tom, it isn’t just a question of what he will do, but who he will be when he does it. Come to think of it, I guess I’m pretty situational myself because there was never a point in the story when I wanted him to be caught and punished for his dastardly deeds. I love a sympathetic villain almost as much as a psychopath! Listeners will also be treated to a tour of Italy in the 50’s and a peek at people with too much money and not enough to do as they move from one house party to another. One can’t blame Tom for coveting their indolent lifestyle.
Kevin Kenerly is a delightful narrator. He has one of those voices that sounds like honey and he is great with the necessary accents for the characters.
The fact that The Talented Mr. Ripley was first published in 1955 will explain several things about the book. You won’t find some of the explicit details that are so common in today’s fiction and the sexuality of the characters will be hinted at rather than openly expressed. Just bear in mind as you listen, the concept of political correctness was years in the future. This is a book that will capture your imagination against your will and hold you hostage until you finish. Despite what may seem like a certain darkness to the storyline, I have to say I laughed out loud at the conclusion. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a standalone, but there are other Tom Ripley books available should you choose to follow the further adventures of this fascinating bad boy.
About Patricia Highsmith
Author Patricia Highsmith wrote her first stories in high school. After graduating from Barnard College in 1942, she published several short stories in magazines before the release of her first novel Strangers on a Train (1950). Her next work, The Price of Salt, was a huge hit, but it was published under the pen name Claire Morgan. Her most famous character, Tom Ripley, made his debut in 1955’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Ripley Under Water (1991) was her last published work. She died in 1995.
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