Rating: 
Summary: A compelling psychological thriller
Review: What an interesting book! The character of Tom Ripley is an exceptional creation; indeed, all the characters in this novel are developed with fine nuances that make the book much more compelling than the movie (which was merely disturbing, where the book succeeds on higher levels). Ms. Highsmith's writing is deceptively simple. The style is basic while the characters are complex. Unfortunately Michael Hayden has a slight lisp (can you believe it?!) which distracts from his otherwise talented performance of the audio version of this work. How it is that people with speech impediments get jobs reading novels aloud is a mystery to me.
Rating:
Summary: Marvellous novel
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. I think it' s really interesting that Mrs Highsmith has written a book with a sympathetic and clever hero who is also very insensitive and cruel. I think that's very special that such a bad character can be depicted in such a sympathetic way. The story is very complex, you never really know what will happen next and what Tom Ripley is going to do. Mrs Highsmith has the great gift of vividly presenting the characters of the main characters, like Tom Ripley, Marge Sherwood and Richard Greenleaf. For example, the letters which they all write from time to time show their characters very well. I would like to recommend this book to everyone who likes criminal stories, it' s a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: perhaps the best from The Talented Ms. Highsmith
Review: 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' is an accomplished deviation from Patricia Highsmith's successful formula of writing about criminals (or suspected criminals) and the guilt/fear they feel. In this wonderfully atmospheric story she tells us of young, single Americans living the good life on the cheap in southern Italy (circa 1955). It all sounds so dreamy until we understand that one of these vagabonds, a Mr. Ripley, is a bit psychotic. He uses his 'talents' (mimicry, forgery) to a deadly advantage ... without feeling any remorse. The story is credible (..if you don't over-analyze it) and is, as with most Patricia Highsmith novels, very well-written. While the novel is less fanciful than the film, its simplicity and 'purity' makes it a worthy read even for those who have seen the film. I found the film to be very enjoyable but it does deviate significantly from the book. Yet overall, the film does capture the essence of Ripley very nicely - Patricia Highsmith would have been pleased. Bottom line: a great read by any standard. Among the 10+ Highsmith books I've read this ranks just below 'Strangers on a Train', which is her first and (IMHO) best novel.
Rating:
Summary: The Film Was Good; But This Is Better!
Review: Enter the mind of the delightfully warped Patricia Highsmith who lets us cheer for the villians and sets her tales of danger and moral decay in luxurious European settings worthy of Ian Flemming. The Ripley books are much better than the recent film, because they are more brutally honest about Ripley's charater. Not being written for the typical middle-American audience, there is no need to sugarcoat anything. He is not some nice but troubled boy who lashes out in anger and then skillfully covers his crime and happens to get rich in the process thanks to a stroke of luck. He is a master manipulator who is always in control of himself and usually in control of others.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Storyline/Credibility Suffers
Review: "The Talented Mister Ripley" is a well put together tale of a young American con artist faking his way through post WW IEurope. There are some unquestioned strong points: The author pulls the reader into the plot immediately. From the first page, we are involved. We soon learn that young Ripley needs money and that old Mr. Geenleaf is a perfect sucker, ripe for the plucking.(He is a rich, desperate father, hoping that Ripley can lure his lazy loafer of a son-Dicky- back to New York from a life of Continental drifter). The setting of a pleasant, lolling "Europe on $5.00 a Day" Italy is just right. All the lazy expatriates-Dicky,Freddie, Marge and crew are appropriate-at first. Eventually, the alert reader has to raise several "points of order". Points such as: Why does Mr. Greenleaf give Ripley, a virtual stranger, a blank check to track down his son, providing first class treatment with no accountability or "progress reports"? Why doesn't Dicky immediately tell Ripley to get lost? Don't any of these people have JOBS? What do they so for money? Do they spend their lives in cafes? When people (not to mention boats!) start to "disappear", why arn't more questions asked? Surely the Italian police (and P.I.s from the States) are smarter than this. These are not tough, grizzled Ann Rule homicide detectives! Is evasion this easy? A few glib answers, a slight disguise change and one is home free? I still don't believe Marge failed to figure it all out. So much for women's intuition. One last point, which anyone from this generation had to have faced: Don't any of these guys have draft boards? Why arn't they in uniform somewhere? Author Highsmith does indeed test her readers's sense of credibility. The cast of characters will certainly test one's patience as well. Forewarned with these caveats, "Ripley" still a worthwhile read, even if the "cultured" backdrop stands in such stark contrast to a "true crime" novel. "Ripley" is worth a try. It moves quickly and even pleasantly toward its' "appropriate" resolution, one which I have not revealed. Now if someone will kindly tell me what "il meglio" means......
Rating:
Summary: A sociopath your mother would love -- maybe
Review: My first shock at receiving this book was realizing that it had actually been published back in the 1950s. I suspected it took place then, but I didn't know it was written then. My second shock was at how modern the book sounded. It read as if it were written in 1995, not 1955. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's something in the use of language, point of view, maybe even in the references early on to Ripley's troubled childhood. Maybe we assume that only in the last ten or so years can a book be written in which we are compelled to root for a murderous, selfish character. I thought Ripley is every bit as talented as the title suggests, the way he thinks through just about everything, and manages to improvise when things don't quite go the way he hopes. My one disappointment, though, is that the ending sort of petered out. It had suspense, but I just didn't buy into the buildup. But don't let that distract you from reading the book. Heck, maybe you'll disagree with me about the ending!
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, yet a very good book
Review: Ms. Highsmith has done one of the most difficult things in fiction. She's given us a first-person narrative of a sociopathic murderer and has actually had us pulling for him to get away with his crimes. Tom Ripley is sent to Europe to persuade an old school friend, Dickie Greenleaf, to return home and work in the family business. However, for the first time in his life Tom gets a taste of the good life and the freedom that money can buy. He comes up with an audacious plan to assume Dickie Greenleaf's life and trust fund. One murder leads to another as Tom scrambles to keep up the deception. But through all of this the reader actually feels sympathy for Tom and wants him to succeed. I recommend this book highly. Ms. Highsmith is a good writer and the way she makes this difficult theme work is nothing short of masterful.
Rating:
Summary: Madness cannot be traced to a single flaw
Review: This book is amazing. The movie is also amazing, but in a different way. They really are almost incomparible, like The Shining book and movie. Both excellent in differnt lights. The Talented Mr. Ripley, the book, draws you into the world of the disurbed mind of Tom Ripley. This first hand view of his thoughts go much more in depth than the movie even attempts to. There are so many issuses going on in Tom's head, you keep wondering what exactly it is that allows him to rationalize murder and all his other "talents". But one thing is never pinpointed, because madness cannot be traced down to one single flaw. His self-loathing, jealousy, his past, there is so much to Tom that could contribute. He is not a hateable character, in fact, the readedr is meant to feel his pain and pity him. I also appreciated the book more because Tom's realationships with other characters were much more complex. He hated Marge in the book, but it was off and on at first, and he used her, and manipulated her, while in the movie, he seems to want her. The book just goes more in depth with everything, which makes the story more plausible, more understandable, and much more fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Overshadowed by Dickie
Review: The book is wonderful! I read the book for class before I saw the movie and it really explained the movie. Of course there are a few changes -- but still, wonderful! Besides that, the imagery of the movie really helps while reading. Imagining JUDE LAW [I am in love with him] and Matt Damon as the parts are better than just some pale, thin guy. But read it!
Rating: 
Summary: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Review: Life is way too short to enduring anything this boring!!
| 
