false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172261274m/156023.jpg 156023 1 <B>Penzler Pick, February 2000</B>: 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 <I>The Talented Mr. Ripley</I>, 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.<p> 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, <I>Strangers on a Train</I>, 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.<p> The first of the Ripley novels is <I>The Talented Mr. Ripley</I>, in which the ne'er-do-well Tom Ripley commits murder and assumes the identity of his wealthy friend. In <I>Ripley Underground</I>, 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 <I>Ripley's Game</I>, a casual snub causes Tom to concoct a scheme involving several murders, the Mafia, and a great deal of money.<p> 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. <I>--Otto Penzler</I> 150558 12 10 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game (Everyman's Library) total:274|5:101|4:100|3:58|2:13|1:2| 274 1107 373 39 3 2 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 19:05:51 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 01 09:04:59 -0700 2007
I found that I was dragging through Ripley Underground, as it just...more...]]> 3 2 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 07:33:30 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 08:44:46 -0800 2008
The CCLaP 100: In which I attempt over the next two years to read a hundred so-called "...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 09:59:18 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 10:28:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Aug 25 23:01:04 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 23:20:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 10:20:11 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 11:27:33 -0700 2008 The Talented Mr. Ripley is a quick read, but there is substance there. The scenery is beautiful in every chapter. Anyone who sets their story in Italy or Greece can score some easy, cheap points with me. I wish I could go back in time to an era where people could travel to and fro and conceal their ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Mar 12 06:15:07 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 06:39:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Nov 24 02:59:55 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 03:03:26 -0800 2009 2 more...]]> 5 0 true false Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 16:30:07 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 19:07:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 15:04:37 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 15:13:59 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 06:34:27 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 17:47:29 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 19:29:11 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 10:07:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 12:51:35 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 12:51:35 -0800 2008
I started Ripley Under Ground, but stopped. It was the same outline, but not as interesting.]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Feb 11 13:57:15 -0800 2008 Tue Jun 09 20:20:40 -0700 2009
Having said that, what makes the main character, Tom, so interesting is his torment. He's very ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Nov 21 03:46:31 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 21 03:48:58 -0800 2007 The Talented Mr. Ripley Tho I haven't seen the movie, I was vaguely familiar with the story; but it was still absorbing. Tom Ripley is a charming sociopath, apparently asexual as well as amoral (AFAIK, unusual for the time in which the novel was written).

Ripley Under Ground: Tom is in...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 17 22:22:11 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 23:50:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 17 12:48:13 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 19:04:46 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 12:47:19 -0800 2008 collected short stories. i read it cover to cover, falling deeply in love.

i had already read The Price of Salt, not realizing Clare Morgan and PH were one in the same.

here's one of my fa...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 29 05:46:56 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 05:47:30 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jan 23 13:18:49 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 13:20:21 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Dec 20 07:13:09 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 20 07:13:09 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 14:33:05 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 14:38:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=156023