The Talented Mr. Ripley
by Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr. Ripley is the book behind the exciting and extremely well acted and thrilling 1999 film adaptation. In my opinion, the suspense is better seen than read.
The premises of both the book and film are similar. Tom Ripley is an emotionally unstable young man who, after meeting the charismatic, carefree Dickie and his girlfriend Marge, becomes obsessed with him and his ease in the world.
While Patricia Highsmith writes well and takes you immediately into Ripley’s sick mind, the print version of the story didn’t hold my interest. I put the book down several times before forcing myself to finish it, out of respect to the film I liked so much. Give it a try, though, and read the first chapter on Amazon. If you’re captivated, you’ll probably like it, because the writing doesn’t vary from the opening. I’m not condemning the book; it just wasn’t my style. It’s difficult to capture the slow suspense of the story while keeping the audience’s attention. The movie handled it perfectly.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of the film adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley here!
The premises of both the book and film are similar. Tom Ripley is an emotionally unstable young man who, after meeting the charismatic, carefree Dickie and his girlfriend Marge, becomes obsessed with him and his ease in the world.
While Patricia Highsmith writes well and takes you immediately into Ripley’s sick mind, the print version of the story didn’t hold my interest. I put the book down several times before forcing myself to finish it, out of respect to the film I liked so much. Give it a try, though, and read the first chapter on Amazon. If you’re captivated, you’ll probably like it, because the writing doesn’t vary from the opening. I’m not condemning the book; it just wasn’t my style. It’s difficult to capture the slow suspense of the story while keeping the audience’s attention. The movie handled it perfectly.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of the film adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley here!