"The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith

When I was about twelve or thirteen, I found this book in the school library and obviously, due to the fact that it was bright red and the book next to it was bright greenish-blue (“Strangers on a Train”) I picked them both up and took them home with me. Both of them had an equally profound impact on the way I think about literature but I seem to remember more of my experience reading “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. I was not a huge fan of the film (and I didn’t get around to watching it until I was about fifteen) but the book was something else. When I read this book I felt all of this tension wash over me and I think this book is possibly the reason for many of my trust issues when it comes to meeting new people. All in all, in every re-read of this book I can honestly say that there is a tiny bit of me that feels some sympathy for Tom Ripley, but another bit of me that wants to just simply punch him. When you read it, you figure out how easy it is to become someone else, and yet how difficult it is to keep up the ruse. It’s one of those machiavellian novels where you cannot help but think about the fact that there may be someone out there, doing this exact same thing right now and nobody will ever know.

My favourite character in the book was obviously Tom Ripley. He seems to have this character made up of other people he meets, you don’t realise that this is actually a key factor of the main point of the whole book. The idea that Ripley gains influence from others and gains knowledge from others is a big deal because, when it comes to identity theft, this man is pretty much the best there is in literature, ever. I think Ripley’s main character flaw though doesn’t do him any good and hinders him from progression in his own plans. This comes across as some sort of depression, anxiety or manic disorder of some kind. When you read the book it is very difficult not to think about whether Ripley has some sort of psychological problem, maybe bipolar actually when I really think about it. This psychological difficulty comes in at various tense points of the novel and seems to steal the character away into introspection. It’s very much like Hamlet progressing with his plans, only to have this strange moment of delay, procrastination and madness. Ripley has the same thing. Whether you notice it or not, there are moments of great introspection at the heights and climaxes of tension which would hinder Ripley for a second, an minute or even longer. It represents the one flaw in his character of deceit, the fact that he cannot seem to get rid of himself entirely at all.

My favourite theme in the book was possibly identity and character. Ripley doesn’t have too much of an overbearing personality, so it’s totally believable when he starts becoming the his friend. But when it comes to other characters, they have strong and wilful personalities that Ripley has to be very careful of. He’s not sure whether they have eyes all around and whether anyone saw the murder happen. But when it comes down to it, Ripley must make a decision between his own character and someone else’s. Ultimately, the choice is clear and so, the theft of personality - though slow to start - shocks the reader. But we don’t get muddled up between Ripley and his mark because Ripley’s personality is not so strong. It’s actually a brilliant balance that seems to represent why Ripley acts almost out of place for where and when he is at that particular moment. Highsmith writes it brilliantly.

I think that far more people should read this book because there’s so much to discover about the characters, about the identity of Tom Ripley and that there is a series on this guy as well, making it even better. I can honestly say that I’ve re-read this book a couple of times and it never fails to make my skin crawl at the very sight of how it actually unfolds. It seems so easily done and that, in turn, scares the hell out of you. I’ve known some people to put this on their list of the scariest books of all time, and I think because of its hyper-realism towards monstrosity, machiavellianism and humanity - they’re probably right to think so. If I re-read this book some time in the future again, I would like to have a look at why exactly and with what motive Tom Ripley does what he does. It needs to be more complex than wanting a different life for himself.