I have seen the movie The Talented Mr Ripley starring Matt Damon and Jude Law
lots of times. It's an entertaining movie, and also
quite shocking. I've been meaning to read the book for a long time and never got around to
it, so I thought it was about time I did. Here's what I thought about The
Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.
About The Talented Mr. Ripley
Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the
law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a
chance to start over.
Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he's willing to kill for
it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as
it is shocking.
Thoughts on The Talented Mr. Ripley
I saw the movie before the book, but it's been a while since I saw the movie.
The book is shorter than I expected which was a nice surprise.
Tom Ripley is an
intriguing character
right from the start. Most of the story covers thoughts in his head as well as
how he's interpreting events and you really get to see how his mind is
working. From the first time he meets Dickie Greenleaf to the end of the book
you're left wondering if Tom Ripley is a good or a bad guy - and I think
that's part of the magic. He is trying to better himself, sometimes at
the expense of other people, but you can't quite work out if he's a bad guy.
The characters within the story are mostly wealthy, apart from Tom, but
whether the characters were rich, like Dickie, or poor, like Tom, they felt
real. When speaking about trips they'd taken or simply laughing with friends
you see it through Tom's eyes, which makes it all feel very real especially
given his quips about characters.
...you can't quite work out if he's a bad guy.
N. E. Ellis
Having watched the movie I knew what was coming but that didn't mean I got
bored. Despite expecting the main event I was still surprised when it
happened because it's not quite the same as in the movie. After the main
event there
wasn't much action, in fact there's not much action in the entire book, but that's not a bad
thing - surprisingly. Reading about Mr Ripley and being in his head was more
interesting than you might expect.
Classic books tend to have great reputations for being brilliant stories but
sometimes can be disappointing when reading. All the hype makes people
believe they should enjoy a classic but when they try to read it they find
it hard going. The Talented Mr. Ripley wasn't like that at all - at least
not for me. I vaguely remembered the story from the movie but still enjoyed
reading and seeing it from Tom's point of view was a great read. I would
highly recommend reading - even if you've been put off classics in the past!
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