The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game (Everyman's Library)

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Penzler Pick, February 2000: Astonishingly unappreciated in America in her lifetime, Patricia Highsmith has suddenly become a hot writer, four years after her death. This has been aided in no small part by the theatrical release of The Talented Mr. Ripley, with its cast of attractive young people. The success of the film has induced readers to try the book--not uncommon for popular movie adaptations--and then to look for other books by her as well. This excellent trilogy of the first three (of five) adventures of the utterly amoral Ripley helps fill that need.

In spite of being a bestselling writer in Germany, France, Austria, and other European countries, and in spite of the great fame accorded her first novel, Strangers on a Train, and the film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock, Highsmith enjoyed no success in her native America, and she became an expatriate, living virtually all of her adult life in Europe.

The first of the Ripley novels is The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which the ne'er-do-well Tom Ripley commits murder and assumes the identity of his wealthy friend. In Ripley Underground, he is in danger of being discovered to have defrauded a large company out of a fortune, which could cost him his wealthy wife. In Ripley's Game, a casual snub causes Tom to concoct a scheme involving several murders, the Mafia, and a great deal of money.

These superbly crafted tales about the unfailingly charming but entirely reprehensible criminal are irresistible, much like watching Mike Tyson in a boxing ring (or out of it, for that matter). You know it's wrong to be titillated by it, and you feel guilty about enjoying the spectacle, but it's impossible to avert the eyes. --Otto Penzler

Book Description

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Three classic crime novels by a master of the macabre appear here together in hardcover for the first time.

Suave, agreeable, and completely amoral, Patricia Highsmith's hero, the inimitable Tom Ripley, stops at nothing--not even murder-- to accomplish his goals. In achieving for himself the opulent life that he was denied as a child, Ripley shows himself to be a master of illusion and manipulation and a disturbingly sympathetic combination of genius and psychopath. As Highsmith navigates the mesmerizing tangle of Ripley's deadly and sinister games, she turns the mystery genre inside out and takes us into the mind of a man utterly indifferent to evil.

The Talented Mr. Ripley
In a chilling literary hall of mirrors, Patricia Highsmith introduces Tom Ripley. Like a hero in a latter-day Henry James novel, is sent to Italy with a commission to coax a prodigal young American back to his wealthy father. But Ripley finds himself very fond of Dickie Greenleaf. He wants to be like him--exactly like him. Suave, agreeable, and utterly amoral, Ripley stops at nothing--certainly not only one murder--to accomplish his goal. Turning the mystery form inside out, Highsmith shows the terrifying abilities afforded to a man unhindered by the concept of evil.

Ripley Under Ground
In this harrowing illumination of the psychotic mind, the enviable Tom Ripley has a lovely house in the French countryside, a beautiful and very rich wife, and an art collection worthy of a connoisseur. But such a gracious life has not come easily. One inopportune inquiry, one inconvenient friend, and Ripley's world will come tumbling down--unless he takes decisive steps. In a mesmerizing novel that coolly subverts all traditional notions of literary justice, Ripley enthralls us even as we watch him perform acts of pure and unspeakable evil.

Ripley's Game
Connoisseur of art, harpsichord aficionado, gardener extraordinaire, and genius of improvisational murder, the inimitable Tom Ripley finds his complacency shaken when he is scorned at a posh gala. While an ordinary psychopath might repay the insult with some mild act of retribution, what Ripley has in mind is far more subtle, and infinitely more sinister. A social slight doesn't warrant murder of course-- just a chain of events that may lead to it.

Customer Reviews:

"Don't Wait for the Movie!".......2007-08-01

I disagree with some evaluations of the Ripley novels that say something to the effect of: "The creepy Ripley crawls under your skin and haunts your dreams at night!" These characterizations are somewhat silly and exaggerated. Highsmith creates an intriguing character, to be sure. But this is not a terrifying, creepy, or frightening series of crime novels. In fact, there is a notable lack of dramatic tension in these novels, particularly the last two.

Ripley is a young man with problems who gets caught up in a cycle of murder and deception. He is to blame, of course, and Ripley is troubled, for sure. However, to walk in the shoes of Tom Ripley is to understand the unique brew of social, psychological, intellectual, and emotional forces that lead Tom into murder. Of course, understanding how these forces interact within the psyche of Tom is best left to reading Highsmith. However, I would sum up Ripley by saying that he is an intelligent, efficient and inward character who, despite his violent crimes, is still very relatable in a sinister way.

On a more philosophical and ethical tone it is of note that the Ripley character is one of contrast and also marked development. For instance, in the earlier Ripley we find someone that despises murder and yet still justifies it all easily enough in light of his circumstances. The later Ripley seems much more emotionally/psychologically at ease with murder - he can eat or laugh immediately following the act - yet he seems to recognize that while some murders may have been "necessary" the original sin (the first murder of Dickie) was an act of volition in his own self-interest. There is a reversal here: The later Ripley is more capable of murder, yet finds less justification in his original sin. This is intriguing, and I think it parallels the Genesis account of partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Ripley's eyes are opened to a new moral dimension, and he can never go back to his age of innocence.

Comparison with the Matt Damon movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley:
In the case of the Ripley novel there are some notable departures in the character development of Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf that make the movie perhaps a bit more appealing. For one thing, Highsmith's Dickie character is much more static in the novel, while in the movie they deliberately sought out Jude Law to make the Dickie character alive and dynamic. Even the main character, Ripley, is a bit more complex in the movie. He is battling insecurity on many levels and additionally they introduce a homosexual element, while in the novel Ripley is seen as somewhat asexual - at least in the first novel (The Talented Mr. Ripley). In this sense Matt Damon may have created a Ripley who is even more multi-layered than Highsmith. The result of the differences in character development is that the interaction between Dickie and Ripley is more central in the movie and a more focal point of intrigue. The novel, on the other hand, is more focussed on Ripley's inner world and his ability to navigate through two murders.

For the ultimate Ripley experience I recommend both the books and the move. For me the Ripley from the novel and the Ripley from the movie kind of morph and mesh together to form a character of interest and intrigue. Which Ripley is the real Ripley?!!? Let your own imagination decide.

(three and a half stars) The first is the best.......2007-05-25

After seeing "The Talented Mr. Ripley" with Matt Damon, I was interested in learning more about this intriguing character, so I bought this single volume containing Patricia Highsmith's first three Ripley novels (which I understand are much better than the Ripley sequels number four and five). While I can't say, as other reviewers do, that I loved it, it was a worthwhile read, with the first novel being the best. After that, Ripley, while remaining true to his amoral self, becomes too self-confident and domestic for my taste. I probably would have stopped after the second novel if I hadn't bought the trilogy.

Anyway, I've recently reviewed all three novels, which I figured I'd just "cut and paste" here:

The Talented Mr. Ripley -- 4 stars:

Thomas Ripley is approached by Mr. Greenleaf, a successful business man, who asks Tom to travel to a small coastal village in Italy, for the purpose of convincing his son Dickie to return and join the family business. When Tom, financed by Mr. Greenleaf, travels to Italy and meets Dickie (whom he soon befriends and moves in with), he sees what he has always dreamed of being: someone who lives a life of leisure, never works, with no money worries. Tom -- who's probably bisexual -- more than falls in love with Dickie, he actually wants to absorb his friend's persona and become him. He realizes that because of a stronger than passing resemblance, plus prodigious impersonation talents (which include forgery), he can become more and more like Dickie; but he eventually comes to the conclusion, in his typical amoral fashion, that he has to get rid of Dickie in order to truly live the life he wants. The third main character in the book, Marge, is in love with Dickie and jealous of Tom, but never truly understands Tom's complete obsession.

If one has seen the movie, one cannot help but picture Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow (whose "Marge" has a stronger personality than the one in the book)in these roles. I didn't mind that, and could appreciate Patricia Highsmith's taut writing skills and ability to make the reader feel repulsed and sympathetic of Tom simultaneously. Sometimes I found myself routing for Tom, but most of the time I wanted him to get caught. My biggest problem with the book is that I couldn't accept how incompetent the Italian police were. One of the basic principles of a murder investigation is to follow the money trail -- which would lead even the most bumbling investigator to Tom. I doubt that even in the 1950's one could so easily impersonate someone else and get away with it. (The same can be said for "Ripley Under Ground," the next book in the Ripley series, but to an even greater degree).

Although certainly with its flaws, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," delivers as a riveting read about a disturbed but clever man who will stop at nothing to obtain his goals.
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Ripley Under Ground -- 3 stars

Several years after he murdered Dickie Greenleaf and went through the events described in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," we now find a more domesticated Tom Ripley living as a man of leisure in a beautiful old country house with a lovely garden in France, with his young, blond French wife Heloise. Tom, living on the money that Dickie "left" to him (in a fake will drawn up by Tom himself after he murdered Dickie), plus his wife's family's generous allowance, supplements his income (and adds some excitment to a rather staid life) by having a stake in a bogus art dealership that sells paintings from the mysterious Derwatt. Unbeknownst to the general public, Derwatt actually committed suicide years before, and the new Derwatt paintings are being painted by Bernard Tufts, a secret business partner of Tom, who's an expert counterfeiter of Derwatt's art. But what's one to do when this fraudalent scheme is discovered by an avid Derwatt fan?

Though Ripley is now older, wiser and more circumspect than he was in the prior novel, he hasn't changed at all in one respect: he will not let anything or anyone stand in the way of his blissful existence, even if he has to lie, cheat and murder. Still a master of imitation, Ripley also has to assume the role of different persona, including that of Derwatt himself, in order to get away with his various crimes.

The problem I had with "Ripley Under Ground," was the same thing I had with "The Talented Mr. Ripley," but even more so. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how many times Ripley was able to convince the police (here both French and British, as opposed to Italian in the prior Ripley novel) of his complete innocence and non-involvement with the shakiest of alibis and under the deepest suspicion. Ripley explains that he's just unlucky in that people who were last seem with him happen to disappear, and presumably well trained detectives astonishingly accept this after the most cursory of investigation.

What was most frustrating to me is that all the police had to do to figure out the Derwatt ruse, and Ripley's involvement in it, was to follow the money trail. His colleagues at the Derwatt gallery explained that they had no idea where Derwatt lived or how they could locate him. Wouldn't following the money trail be the first thing one would do if someone who's alleging counterfeit paintings was murdered? This avenue of investigation would have led to the discovery of Ripley's involvement in the enterprise, and his entire story would have collapsed like a house of cards.

In short, if you liked "The Talented Mr. Ripley," it's probably worth your while to read "Ripley Under Ground." But the problems of the first Ripley novel are magnified here.
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Ripley's Game -- 3 stars

Since I purchased a single volume which included the trilogy "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Ripley Under Ground," and "Ripley's Game," I felt compelled to read the last installment, even though I probably would have stopped with the second one if purchased one at a time. Alas, "Ripley's Game" didn't thrill me. Sure, we still have the compelling main character who, like a toned down (non-cannabilistic) Hannibal Lechter, wonders whether his wine is properly chilled or how to play a Bach sonata on his newly purchased harpischord right before he bludgeons an enemy's head with a heavy stick. Here, his murderous choices aren't nearly so repugnant as in the two earlier Ripley novels, since those he kills are members of the Italian Mafia.

In fact, the central character of "Ripley's Game" is not Thomas Ripley at all, but Jonathan Trevanny, dying of a fatal blood disease, who sets aside his morals and agrees to murder members of the Mafia for money (paid by Reeves, a "colleague" of Ripley whom we've met before), so that a war might be started amongst the Mafia families. Honestly, as a fan of "The Sopranos," it seemed at times that Highsmith's portrayal of the mob was nothing short of naive and pedestrian. The fight/murder scenes have an odd flatness to them, and are certainly not one of Highsmith's stronger points.

One thing which kind of bothered me was that Ripley's comments to a character named Gauthier - that Trevanny had taken a turn for the worst -supposedly sets certain key events in motion. In fact (and I re-read this part to make sure), it was Gauthier who told Ripley about Trevanny's illness in the first place.

In any event, the character of Thomas Ripley is certainly an intriguing one, and though I'm probably not going to read the two subsequent Ripley novels, someday I'll rent the two movies based on "Ripley's Game."

existential insight into a troubled mind.......2006-07-31

Loved the three books contained in this volume. Engrossing stories about a man with a troubled mind who lives a very pleasant and noremal life, ... except for a few excursions into murder. The hero is the villan, an unusual twist to the thriller mystery novel.

Sorry but no...........2006-01-10

I didn't like this trilogy. I have to confess i bought it after watching the movie based on the first book.In my opinion this is one of the very few cases when the movie is better than the book. the story is just not as intense as it is in the movie, Tom's fascination with Dickie is more implicit in the book. Maybe because of the time it was written? In the book Tom dislikes "queers", in the movie he seems to be one of them.
About the second and third books... Tom helping this pseu-do english painter who feels guilty about forging the works of a long time dead artist... why does he get involved in the first place? He has a beautiful house in France, he is married to a rich blonde Frenchwoman, why risk it all again? I guess he just has a passion for complicated lives...And later he gets involved in the German mafia, corrupting a cancer patient. The last book is way over the top, specially all the shooting in the last chapters... I guess you have to be a crime fiction fanatic to appreciate Patricia Highsmith's unrealistic plots...

Brilliant Characters, Philosphical Questions and Great Plots.......2004-10-26

The character development of Tom Ripley is what makes The Talented Mr. Ripley one of the great crime novels of the 20th century. Ms. Highsmith is an acute observer and is able to translate her sensitivity into a multidimensional portrait of a successful criminal in a way that is virtually unmatched. One of the most astonishing qualities of this book is that you will find yourself pulling for Ripley, even though he is as amoral a character as you will read about.

Ripley is an immensely capable man who floats like a newly cut wood chip on the surging tides of life, always buoyant regardless of the circumstances. He is extremely impulsive. He also has so little invested in who he is that he can even be happier pretending to be someone else. He is also unattached to the world's judgments. Solitude suits him well.

The story opens as the father of a casual acquaintance tracks Ripley down. The father wants to persuade his son to return from Italy to take up a career in the family business. Through this contact, Ripley finds himself sent off to Europe as a paid emissary. Once there, Ripley makes no headway but does develop a friendship with his casual acquaintance before strains start to develop. What follows is one of the most interesting and intricate plot lines that it will ever be your pleasure to read.

The book's largest theme is about identity. Who are we really? Can we be someone different from whom we seem to be? How do we misjudge one another? I don't remember any other crime novel that explores such subtle questions so well.

I recently reread this novel for the third time. I found depths in the themes and story telling that I had missed before. Even if you have read it before, I suggest you do so again. If you haven't read any of the Ripley novels, you have a great treat ahead of you.

The next book in the series is Ripley under Ground which suffers in comparison with The Talented Mr. Ripley. By comparison, Ripley Under Ground could be renamed Ripley in Slow Motion with a Yawn. Character development is much less in this book and the plot is much less intricate and exciting.

As the book opens, we find that the sexually neuter Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley has turned into a married Ripley who has a wealthy wife on vacation in Greece. A scam that Ripley started before he married and after The Talented Mr. Ripley has come back to haunt him. Ripley had helped set up a ring to forge portraits by a dead artist and to pretend the artist is still alive. A collector is challenging the authenticity of a painting he bought which is a forgery. Ripley decides to come to London to impersonate the artist. But that doesn't work so Ripley has to find some new method to solve the problem.

One of the weakest elements in this book is the heavy use of impersonations. It's just too much to be credible. That was the weakest part of The Talented Mr. Ripley, but here Ms. Highsmith goes off the deep end in that regard.

I did like the little character development that occurred. Ripley starts to develop some feelings for other people, even if they are not deep ones. He's not quite the amoral monster he was before, but he certainly looks out for number one first. He also starts to trust others for the first time.

The premise for Ripley's Game, the third book in the series, is the most interesting of the three: How will a dying man look at morality when he knows his days are numbered? Ripley's Game has a second advantage over The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ripley Under Ground, there are no plot devices where Ripley fools the same person over and over again with alternate disguises. Another advantage over Ripley Under Ground is that Ms. Highsmith has a new character who can be totally developed in his many complex facets.

As the book opens, Tom Ripley's criminal friend Reeves has come up with an implausible idea -- encourage the Italian mafia to run itself out of Hamburg by starting a war between rival families. To do this, Reeves needs an untraceable, innocent-looking killer who will quickly disappear. Reeves spots the possible targets, but cannot think of anyone to do the killings. Although Ripley has nothing at stake, the problem intrigues Tom. He remembers a local owner of a framing shop, Jonathan Trevanny, who has an advanced case of incurable leukemia. How might making the man afraid of dying sooner affect his willingness to kill? The story proceeds from there with many twists and turns that are more realistic than in The Talented Mr. Ripley or Ripley Under Ground. Before the book is over, you learn a lot about how people create their own situational morality. You will find yourself surprised by the reactions of Ripley, Trevanny and Trevanny's wife. It makes for very interesting reading. I especially enjoyed seeing Ms. Highsmith go back to do more with developing new dimensions of Ripley's character.

The book's main problem with the book is that it usually moves at the wrong pace. The leisurely, untroubled sections are developed at about the same pace as the dangerous action sections are. As a result, the book feels like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is being played at the exact same average tempo throughout. The contrasts don't work as well with such an approach. In addition, the leisurely parts are too fast and the action parts are too slow.

After you finish this book, take time to honestly think about what you would do if you had been Trevanny. It makes for a series of fascinating speculations to consider.

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A Nice Addition to the Series
An amoral man of leisure
Under Ground, Slightly Over Done
A Married Ripley Dabbles in Double Dealing
Amoralists can't all be this dull.

Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679742301
Release Date: 1992-09-01

Book Description

In this harrowing illumination of the psychotic mind, the enviable Tom Ripley has a lovely house in the French countryside, a beautiful and very rich wife, and an art collection worthy of a connoisseur. But such a gracious life has not come easily. One inopportune inquiry, one inconvenient friend, and Ripley's world will come tumbling down--unless he takes decisive steps. In a mesmerizing novel that coolly subverts all traditional notions of literary justice, Ripley enthralls us even as we watch him perform acts of pure and unspeakable evil.

Customer Reviews:

A Nice Addition to the Series.......2007-05-17

I read Ripley Under Ground following the first novel in the series. Patricia Highsmith's writing a succinct and beautifully descriptive, and she builds the story chapter by chapter until it becomes hard to put down. The story has been explained well by other reviewers and revolves around a British artist - Derwatt - who presumably drowned himself on the island of Icaria in his disappointment over his career. His friends, ironically, manage to make the dead artist famous by selling his paintings and drawings but they run out of art works to sell. Enter Tom Ripley with the solution: have someone paint pictures in the Derwatt style. Derwatt become a cottage industry with his own line of art supplies with an artist - Bernard Tufts - turning out Derwatt paintings. As a cover, Derwatt is painting away in an obscure village in Mexico and will not reveal the name. Everything is good until someone looks too closely and thinks Derwatt is being forged.

Without giving away much more of the story, the inquisitive art collector meets a sticky end and Bernard, the art forger, begins to fall apart. Tom Ripley is called on to deftly manage the growing police investigation as his many houseguests - including a Greenleaf cousin and Bernard - come to stay at his house. And his wife Heloise, conveniently in Greece during the early part of the book, returns home. The story builds nicely as the police want to question the illusive Derwatt about this missing art collector. Ultimately, however, Ms. Highsmith ends the book without resolving the whereabouts of the art collector but Bernard becomes a useful stand-in for Derwatt.

The loose end is a bit troublesome and I thought of some ways in which the story could have been resolved. Ripley could have implicated Bernard as the art collector's murderer because Bernard felt that Derwatt had been insulted by the charges of forgery. It also might have been interesting if Ripley had found the real Derwatt when he was searching for Bernard, as a disinterested observed of his own fame.

Despite the loose end Ripley Under Ground is a very engaging book that should delight lovers of the Ripley series.

An amoral man of leisure.......2007-05-07

Several years after he murdered Dickie Greenleaf and went through the events described in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," we now find a more domesticated Tom Ripley living as a man of leisure in a beautiful old country house with a lovely garden in France, with his young, blond French wife Heloise. Tom, living on the money that Dickie "left" to him (in a fake will drawn up by Tom himself after he murdered Dickie), plus his wife's family's generous allowance, supplements his income (and adds some excitment to a rather staid life) by having a stake in a bogus art dealership that sells paintings from the mysterious Derwatt. Unbeknownst to the general public, Derwatt actually committed suicide years before, and the new Derwatt paintings are being painted by Bernard Tufts, a secret business partner of Tom, who's an expert counterfeiter of Derwatt's art. But what's one to do when this fraudalent scheme is discovered by an avid Derwatt fan?

Though Ripley is now older, wiser and more circumspect than he was in the prior novel, he hasn't changed at all in one respect: he will not let anything or anyone stand in the way of his blissful existence, even if he has to lie, cheat and murder. Still a master of imitation, Ripley also has to assume the role of different persona, including that of Derwatt himself, in order to get away with his various crimes.

The problem I had with "Ripley Under Ground," was the same thing I had with "The Talented Mr. Ripley," but even more so. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how many times Ripley was able to convince the police (here both French and British, as opposed to Italian in the prior Ripley novel) of his complete innocence and non-involvement with the shakiest of alibis and under the deepest suspicion. Ripley explains that he's just unlucky in that people who were last seem with him happen to disappear, and presumably well trained detectives astonishingly accept this after the most cursory of investigation.

What was most frustrating to me is that all the police had to do to figure out the Derwatt ruse, and Ripley's involvement in it, was to follow the money trail. His colleagues at the Derwatt gallery explained that they had no idea where Derwatt lived or how they could locate him. Wouldn't following the money trail be the first thing one would do if someone who's alleging counterfeit paintings was murdered? This avenue of investigation would have led to the discovery of Ripley's involvement in the enterprise, and his entire story would have collapsed like a house of cards.

In short, if you liked "The Talented Mr. Ripley," it's probably worth your while to read "Ripley Under Ground." But the problems of the first Ripley novel are magnified here.

Under Ground, Slightly Over Done.......2005-03-25

"Ripley Under Ground" is the second novel in the Ripley series by the talented Patricia Highsmith. In the first novel, readers were introduced to Tom Ripley - a poor player who wishes for a better life and achieves it through ill-gotten gains. The charm of Tom Ripley is that even though he is an amoral murderer, the reader roots for him to get away with all the evil deeds he has committed.

This second book finds him married and living a rather quiet, peaceful life in France. He is the conspirator of Derwatt Ltd., a company that manufactures paintings by an artist who has supposedly been dead for the past six years. When questions of forgery arrive through an American visitor, Tom impersonates the artist but to little avail. He later introduces himself to the American visitor as Tom Ripley, and invites him to his home in France to view the two Derwatt paintings he owns, in a desperate attempt to persuade the man to change his mind. Despite all his charm and storytelling, the man refuses to budge on his theory and plans to seek out an expert when he returns to London. Tom knows that he must take matters into his own hands to prevent this and the damage it would cause to everyone involved.

Tom Ripley is a thoroughly interesting character. He is intelligent and philosophical despite his amoral adventures into corruption and murder. He truly believes that he is doing what is best for himself and those involved. As the story progresses, and the situation becomes even more desperate, there seems to be far too many loose ends to tie up - and Highsmith doesn't end them tidily. She leaves room open for the series to continue, with questions abounding in the readers' minds. And through everything we witness Tom do, we still want to see him succeed, even in the most grisly of tasks.

A Married Ripley Dabbles in Double Dealing.......2004-10-24

Ripley Under Ground is the second book in the Ripley series. The book suffers in comparison with the astonishing first book in the series, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Perhaps no sequel could hope to have matched that fine book's character development and intricate, exciting plot. By comparison, Ripley Under Ground could be renamed Ripley in Slow Motion with a Yawn. Character development is much less in this book and the plot is much less intricate and exciting.

As the book opens, we find that the sexually neuter Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley has turned into a married Ripley who has a wealthy wife who's on vacation in Greece. A scam that he started before he married and after The Talented Mr. Ripley has come back to haunt him. Ripley had helped set up a ring to forge portraits by a dead artist and to pretend the artist is still alive. A collector is challenging the authenticity of a painting he bought which is a forgery. Ripley decides to come to London to impersonate the artist. But that doesn't work so Ripley has to find some new method to solve the problem. Otherwise, his wife's family will probably give him the old heave-ho. They would never have agreed to the marriage in the first place, but the pair eloped and presented the family with a fait accompli.

One of the weakest elements in this book is the heavy use of impersonations. It's just too much to be totally credible. That was the weakest part of The Talented Mr. Ripley, but here Ms. Highsmith goes off the deep end in that regard.

I did like the little character development that occurred. Ripley starts to develop some feelings for other people, even if they are not deep ones. He's not quite the amoral monster he was before, but he certainly looks out for number one first. It was interesting to see how he starts to trust others, which he did not do before.

If you have not yet read The Talented Mr. Ripley, please read that book instead. It's a much better book, and you will enjoy this one more if you read that one first. This book has several delicious ironies in it that you won't appreciate without the contrast of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

May your every day above ground be a great one!

Amoralists can't all be this dull........2004-08-07

I thought I'd try this book because I enjoyed both of the films about Ripley. But take away the acting of Matt Damon and John Malkovich and Ripley loses his depth as a fascinatingly ambiguous amoralist, and turns into just a bore in a dressing gown who happens to kill a lot of people. Furthermore, Highsmith seems to have only one literary trick up her sleeve: describe a bunch of horrific acts in deadpan, Hemingwayesque prose so that your reader can shiver and marvel at the incongruity of it all. Well, ho hum.

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Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmiths
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KI9BTS

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Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Ripley Under Ground
Highsmith Patricia
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JLO2PY

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Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY CRIME CLUB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SNOPA0

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Ripley Under Ground

Manufacturer: Manor Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HS9IF8

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Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0099283581

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Ripley Under Ground
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Doubleday
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Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PB34ZM

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A Married Ripley Dabbles in Double Dealing

Ripley Under Ground.
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Diogenes Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3257204825

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A Married Ripley Dabbles in Double Dealing.......2004-10-24

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