Der talentierte Mr. Ripley (1955)

Een klassieker (1955) die een paar keer verfilmd werd, waardoor ik in de hoofdfiguur niemand anders dan Matt Damon kon zien, maar dat was niet erg…Het blijft spannend en aangenaam om lezen, en gelukkig kon ik mij niet meer herinneren of hij er mee weg kwam of niet…
Leuke vakantieliteratuur. ( )

A tense and twisty thriller about a seemingly ordinary psychopath. Patricia Highsmith immediately lets the reader know that Tom Ripley, a insignificant man barely making ends meet and sponging off his “friends”, is up to no good. He’s paranoid about being followed, and his paranoia is somewhat justified as he is running a minor scam. He doesn’t even make any money–the thrill of successfully pulling off a con seems to be motivation enough. He lucks into an even better opportunity, as wealthy businessman Mr. Greenleaf sends him on an all-expenses paid trip to Europe to convince his son, Dickie, to come back to America. Because of the well-known movie, the way the plot unspools is probably known–Tom becomes obsessed with Dickie and his easy life in Italy, but when his new happiness is threatened, he goes to extreme lengths to protect it.

I never fully sympathized with Tom–honestly not because he’s a sociopathic murderer but because he’s so petty and judgmental. Still, he was fun to read about, as he continually gets into risky situations but manages to avoid detection. Also, weirdly enough, if you put aside the murdering and crimes, Tom seems like he could be the protagonist of a contemporary novel–the awkward underdog who might have a happier ending or continually be subjected to ordinary misery. He’s uncomfortable around the wealthy and confident but can sometimes put on a good show, which tires him out. He is frequently shown as the awestruck tourist–always wanting to go on trips, excited over books and art, and worrying about whether something is too “touristy”. His sadness and hurt over covert rejection can be sympathetic, although he tends to react in boundary-breaking and highly emotional ways (in addition to the murdering). There is also the fact that his character is coded as gay–it’s directly mentioned, and although Tom denies it, the issue is a major wedge between Dickie and his friends. There are enough clues to conclude that Dickie is also gay, which could partially explain his rejection of Tom. However, although this could suggest that Tom is an example of the “evil gay/bisexual” stereotype, he has plenty of reasons for his actions: class is an ever-present issue, he had an unhappy childhood growing up with his unpleasant aunt and he seems to be misanthropic in general. The ending was great, as HIghsmith has a number of tropes and set-ups that usually go one way but end up in a different place here. A definite page turner–I’ll be looking for further Ripley books. ( )

The Most Artful Deceiver

Psychological thrillers don’t get much better than this. Patricia Highsmith plants you deep within the brain of American sociopath Tom Ripley as he deceives one person after another, assumes the life of a young man he envies, and lashes out murderously to achieve his ends. Even today, more than sixty years after its first printing, with truckloads of psychological crime novels featuring psychos carted of to the remainder bins, and a swamp of crime movies and television shows spilling from our screens, this still stands out as an achievement of perfectly blending literary and hard-edged noir.

Succinctly, Tom Ripley is a young man in his mid-twenties existing in New York City. He really can’t do anything, doesn’t own anything, rooms with friends, and engages in petty forgery and scamming, not to make money but to amuse himself. As he says, he is very disappointed in his life and what he has made of it. Then his life changes. Mr. Herbert Greenleaf approaches him thinking him a close friend of his son, Dickie. Dickie has been taking an extended vacation in Italy trying his hand at painting, when his father needs and wants him back home in the family boat building business. Would Tom, all expenses paid, of course, sail to Italy and persuade Dickie to return home?

Tom connects with Dickie in short order and methodically befriends him. What Tom admires most about Dickie is his smooth approach to life, his nice manner, fueled, naturally, by lots of money. In a letter to Dickie, that is, Tom as Dickie, Marge Sherwood, Dickie’s wannabe girlfriend, writes of Tom, “He’s just a nothing ,,,” Perfect, as Tom is a blank canvas awaiting paint, and Dickie is the paint. Tom hatches a plan, really sort of a scatterbrained plan that feels almost spontaneous, to kill Dickie, which he does. Then the adventure truly begins as Tom dodges, weaves, and deceives (the police, Marge, Mr. Greenleaf, and Dickie’s friends) his way around Italy, subsuming Dickie into the very core of his being. So perfectly does he do this that later in the novel he begins to believe he has a talent for painting and an appreciation of art. And no secret here, as you probably know the Ripley story turned into a five-novel series, he gets away with it.

Highsmith’s Ripley is a brilliant creation. He’s at various times a knockabout, a petulant child, a hedonist, a terrorized boy, a self-doubter, an explosive killer, a conniver, and a man unable to understand or even define his own identity. Paramount, though, above all, he thinks of only one person, only what’s good for Tom Ripley. Striping away Highsmith’s literary polishing, he sounds quite despicable. Yet, credit to Highsmith, you find yourself liking him, hoping, too, that his bobbing will succeed. Forget that you know, like all sociopaths, he doesn’t experience emotion but mimics it. Pay attention to Highsmith’s sentences and descriptions, the declarative style she employs here; you’ll see how it helps us feel Tom’s coolness, his emotional void.

Even her plotting captures the essence of Tom, his lackadaisical ambling approach to life, by giving us the impression stuff just happens. A situation presents itself and Tom improvises on the spot. So we readers feel like we’re just skipping from situation to situation, almost as if Highsmith is making it up as she goes, perhaps chortling at each twist.

A must read for everybody who loves their psychological fiction on the highest order. ( )

The Most Artful Deceiver

Psychological thrillers don’t get much better than this. Patricia Highsmith plants you deep within the brain of American sociopath Tom Ripley as he deceives one person after another, assumes the life of a young man he envies, and lashes out murderously to achieve his ends. Even today, more than sixty years after its first printing, with truckloads of psychological crime novels featuring psychos carted of to the remainder bins, and a swamp of crime movies and television shows spilling from our screens, this still stands out as an achievement of perfectly blending literary and hard-edged noir.

Succinctly, Tom Ripley is a young man in his mid-twenties existing in New York City. He really can’t do anything, doesn’t own anything, rooms with friends, and engages in petty forgery and scamming, not to make money but to amuse himself. As he says, he is very disappointed in his life and what he has made of it. Then his life changes. Mr. Herbert Greenleaf approaches him thinking him a close friend of his son, Dickie. Dickie has been taking an extended vacation in Italy trying his hand at painting, when his father needs and wants him back home in the family boat building business. Would Tom, all expenses paid, of course, sail to Italy and persuade Dickie to return home?

Tom connects with Dickie in short order and methodically befriends him. What Tom admires most about Dickie is his smooth approach to life, his nice manner, fueled, naturally, by lots of money. In a letter to Dickie, that is, Tom as Dickie, Marge Sherwood, Dickie’s wannabe girlfriend, writes of Tom, “He’s just a nothing ,,,” Perfect, as Tom is a blank canvas awaiting paint, and Dickie is the paint. Tom hatches a plan, really sort of a scatterbrained plan that feels almost spontaneous, to kill Dickie, which he does. Then the adventure truly begins as Tom dodges, weaves, and deceives (the police, Marge, Mr. Greenleaf, and Dickie’s friends) his way around Italy, subsuming Dickie into the very core of his being. So perfectly does he do this that later in the novel he begins to believe he has a talent for painting and an appreciation of art. And no secret here, as you probably know the Ripley story turned into a five-novel series, he gets away with it.

Highsmith’s Ripley is a brilliant creation. He’s at various times a knockabout, a petulant child, a hedonist, a terrorized boy, a self-doubter, an explosive killer, a conniver, and a man unable to understand or even define his own identity. Paramount, though, above all, he thinks of only one person, only what’s good for Tom Ripley. Striping away Highsmith’s literary polishing, he sounds quite despicable. Yet, credit to Highsmith, you find yourself liking him, hoping, too, that his bobbing will succeed. Forget that you know, like all sociopaths, he doesn’t experience emotion but mimics it. Pay attention to Highsmith’s sentences and descriptions, the declarative style she employs here; you’ll see how it helps us feel Tom’s coolness, his emotional void.

Even her plotting captures the essence of Tom, his lackadaisical ambling approach to life, by giving us the impression stuff just happens. A situation presents itself and Tom improvises on the spot. So we readers feel like we’re just skipping from situation to situation, almost as if Highsmith is making it up as she goes, perhaps chortling at each twist.

A must read for everybody who loves their psychological fiction on the highest order. ( )

A fascinating crime thriller from the 1950s in which we are caught up not in who did it but rather will they get away with it. ( )