The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

[ScottyMcGee]

I read this only vaguely knowing what it was about. I bet a lot of people have seen or heard about the movie with Matt Damon and yada, yada, yada.

As I was reading the starting chapters, I was starting to think that this might be one of my favorite books. I'm currently devising a series that deals with the main character being a slight sociopath.

Just a quick overview, the book is actually a "dark reworking" of Henry James' "The Ambassadors." (One of the characters even tells the main character, Tom Ripley, about the book, which I thought was a neat reference)

Dickie Greenleaf's father wants Dickie back from Europe wasting money and his life away on pleasure. He "hires" Tom to go over to Europe and get him back. Tom unknowingly gets drawn to Dickie's lifestyle, and he eventually becomes obsessed with being Dickie's friend. Dickie's sort-of--kind-of girlfriend, Marge, doesn't like this at all. She thinks Tom is a creep, and Tom is revealed to have some homosexual tendencies. Tom slowly borders on becoming a sociopath as Dickie rejects his friendship.

Like I said, I went into the book not really knowing what it was about. I obviously don't want to give away anything. But I was kind of confused/unsure at where it was all going. Is Tom good or bad? It's somewhat debatable. I love how Patricia can make us root for him as he murders some people, because the way she describes them makes you think, "Well, they didn't really have great personalities either. . " Most of the book deals with how Tom tries to cover everything up while having different aliases. I was always frantically thinking, "Shit, is Tom gonna get caught? Is he? Wait, he HAS to get caught now, he's screwed. Right? SHIT."

I bought Patricia's "Strangers on a Train" too a while ago. Although I won't get to it for a while, because I plan on reading "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John Le Carre. When I finish that, I'll give my two cents on it.