Ripley Under Water

Ripley #5

by Patricia Highsmith

En “Ripley en Peligro”, Patricia Highsmith -siempre dentro del género negro/policial- da muestras de una trama densa desde el punto de vista narrativo/psicológico. Tom Ripley y su mujer Heloise disfrutan de una plácida existencia en el paraíso perdido de una pequeña localidad francesa, cuando aparecen en escena los Pritchard, una enigmática pareja de norteamericanos quienes sacarán a luz dos asesinatos que Ripley habría cometido tiempo atrás. Cuando el pasado acecha, Ripley se encuentra acorralado por las encrucijadas de su propio sentimiento de culpa…

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Classics, Noir, Mystery Thriller

Audio Cassette

First published October 3, 1991

About the author

Patricia Highsmith (19 January 1921 – 4 February 1995) was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.

She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.

Shortly after graduation her short story "The Heroine" was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 paycheck. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.

Her first suspense novel Strangers on a Train published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.

In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid The Talented Mr Ripley, a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in Ripley Under Ground in 1970, in Ripley's Game in 1974, The Boy Who Followed Ripley in 1980, and in Ripley Under Water in 1991.

Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan , plus a work of nonfiction Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction and a co-written book of children's verse, Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda.

She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel Deep Water, 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."

She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously a month later. (Gerry Wolstenholme, July 2010).

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars on re-reading 31/12/22

There was indeed a screen between fact and memory, Tom realised, though he could not have given it a name. He could, of course, he thought a few seconds later, and it was self-preservation.

Ha, one of my final books of 2022 and, suitably, it has been the fabulous end of Highsmith's glorious Ripliad.

We meet an older Tom here, one coming up to 40, growing in self-knowledge and self-awareness almost on the page (see the quotation above as an example), and also opening up emotionally. For the first time, he tells Heloise he loves her (and why would he lie?) and we also see his friendship with Ed and Jeff, fellow conspirators in the Derwatt fraud from book 2, Ripley Under Ground, now spending time with him just because they enjoy it - even if there is a little 'business' in the mix.

Most of all, looking back at the five books, we can see to what extent Highsmith has queered her texts - not merely in a straightforward sexuality sense (and here Tom's happy marriage complicates his relationships with all those handsome men in the books) but in terms of how she regards big-ticket themes such as marriage, work, ideas of the self and identity, culture - her constant play with the performative self, of pliable and fluent identities, of alternative ways to structure a life, of what's 'underground' or 'under water', of the ludic nature of life ('Ripley's Game') are all radically confrontational of bourgeois values, as is Ripley's recourse to pretty much guilt-free murder whenever the need occurs.

This book also contains one of the blackest scenes of Highsmith humour as the vile and malicious Pritchards ('Preekhard' - ha!) fall into the pond on their lawn and drown!.

Reading the books together, it seems there's no coincidence or shyness involved in Hightsmith refusing to label Ripley's sexuality - she's resistant to all kinds of categorising, boxing and restraining, and channels her most wayward self into this most charming of tricksters.
-----------------------------------------
Just when I thought, after the previous two books, Highsmith couldn't pull off another twist - she does! In this final episode of the 'Ripliad', Tom finds himself the stalked rather than the stalker as a creepily obnoxious American couple seem determined to uncover (literally) Ripley's less-than-salubrious past.

With shivery moments that leave even Ripley's heart temporarily speeded up, this is also notable for its dark, dark humour.

A fabulous ending to this unique series - just make sure you read them in order.

[Sasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor Tom Ripley has flip flopped sexual orientations more often than a Republican senator with a drinking problem. After the closeted but ultragay Boy Who Followed Ripley, he's straighter than he's ever been with this dying whimper of a last Ripley book. The gayest thing he does here is read a biography of Oscar Wilde.

If you were hoping for closure, you can abandon your hopes: Highsmith does nothing to wrap the story up here. She barely provides a plot at all. An American couple shows up to harass Tom over his past sins - way in the rearview mirror, at this point; he hasn't done anything terribly bad since the second book in the series. He's been utterly defanged. In an astonishingly half-assed denouement, his antagonists trip and fall into a pond, where they both drown in six feet of water. Tom basically shrugs and goes on his way.

I've slogged through all five of the Ripley books now. In order from most to least worth reading, they are:

1. Talented Mr. Ripley, which is still an amazing book.
2. Nothing else, really. Best pretend no sequels exist at all. If you must, though, Ripley Under Ground (#2) is fine;
3. The Boy Who Followed Ripley (#4) is sortof funny in its whole gay-not-gayness;
4. Ripley's Game (#3) is barely acceptable;
5. This book really has nothing at all going for it.

Highsmith published this in 1991, 11 years after The Boy Who Followed Ripley, a few years before she died at 74. I assume she wanted a paycheck. That's certainly what it feels like.

[Guille · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aburrida, sin garra. Decepcionante final para una saga en la que solo se salvan dos novelas: «El talento de Tom Ripley» y «El amigo americano».

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to miss Tom Ripley.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only Murders in Tom Ripley’s Past

So this, Ripley Under Water (1991), is the last of the five Tom Ripley (a kind of Jack the Ripper guy, maybe) books, all five written over the space of 36 years, beginning with the brilliant The Talented Mr Ripley (1955). None of them quite approach the surprise and panache of that first one, but I have to say they are all compelling in their own ways. This one has its flaws, but there is also something of finality to it.

Tom gets a call from an American, David Pritchard, pretending to be Tom’s first murder victim, Dickie Greenleaf. He and his wife Victoria decide to buy a house right across from Tom and Eloise’s house and kind of stalk Tom, doing some digging into the nefarious past Tom has never been identified being nefarious in at all. Particularly, Pritchard decides to get into the whole Bernard/Murchison debacle, seeing if he can dig up the body which the police failed to do.

Okay, we don’t get a good idea why the Pritchards are stalking Tom, but we are not surprised, in a way. How is Tom getting away with all this, time and again!? Who can stop him!? But it’s not a Phllip Marlowe detective, but a guy who is like Ripley in that does not work, lives off other people’s money. So how do we decide with the killer Ripley over Pritchard? Well, Pritchard is fat, he’s vulgar, and it appears he beats his wife! Ripley plays the Harpsichord, gardens, collects paintings and is so thoughtful in speaking with others! I mean, sure, he kills people, but we have to side with this cultured person over an American boor! Let’s get rid of him!

So making us side with a serial killer, that's Nabokov territory, devilishly sinister, and then Ripley involves his friend Ed in the plot, and corrupts him, too. This is good and devious writing, to manipulate you to like this guy in some respects. Ah, but he's so "cultured"! We are seduced as Dickie Greenleaf and so many others have been. He's a slick psychopath, completely amoral, able to shut it off, remove himself from any emotional involvement with his crimes at any time!

After what is a pretty suspenseful build up, the resolution--in Pritchards’s pond--seems a little flat/dull/disappointing, but I still liked the book quite a bit. It’s not the best of the series, but it is certainly not the worst, and it is written by Highsmith, one of the best! I’m gonna miss Tom Ripley!

*Throughout the series readers debate Tom’s sexuality. Is he gay? In one book he goes o gay bars in drag. In this one the most he does is read an Oscar Wilde biography. No final answer to this question of his sexual identity, I think.

*I have always found Eloise bizarrely vapid. Ripley is clearly a criminal, and she just basically ignores everything he does without comment. She’s just pretty and empty, very passive, like the other wife in this one, Victoria Pritchard.

Just before this review goes to press I skimmed some of the reviews on this book and I get why people think this wasn't great, and I point out a couple of those reasons myself, but I still found it like all the others compulsively readable.

[Nigeyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ripley Under Water (1991) (Ripley #5) is a satisfying conclusion to Patricia Highsmith's Ripliad....

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
Ripley Under Ground (1970)
Ripley's Game (1974)
The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
Ripley Under Water (1991)

Apparently Patricia Highsmith had plans to write a sixth book however Ripley Under Water has all the hallmarks of a final book and series closer.

David Pritchard, an obsessed, unhinged stalker and his wife move to Villeperce, Tom's village, and start raking through Tom's shady past, specifically the Tuft/Murchison/Derwatt saga which features in earlier books.

As with the other books in the series, the plot machinations bear little scrutiny especially David Pritchard's illogical behaviour which is always conveniently dismissed as "he's a nut job". That said, the appeal of these books is Tom, the ultimate anti-hero, con man, criminal and killer. I imagine most readers root for him in spite of his appalling crimes. He drifts through a charmed life despite leaving a trail of dots most cops would be able to connect without too much difficulty.

Will he finally get caught in Ripley Under Water? There's only one way to find out and, if you have stuck with the character throughout the Ripliad, you will, like me, doubtless enjoy discovering that outcome for yourself.

4/5



Tom Ripley is quietly living a life of luxury at his chateau at Villeperce, and, as ever, is keeping one step ahead of the law - he has, after all, a past that would not bear too much close scrutiny... The fifth novel featuring the protagonist Tom Ripley finds the sophisticated and amoral American expatriate being harassed by David Pritchard, a fellow American whose boorishness marks him as something of Ripley's alter-ego. Inexplicably familiar with all the incriminating details of Ripley's past, Pritchard is determined to expose him. He shadows Ripley's every move, first spying on him at home in France and then following him to Morocco. Tensions build on the return to Villeperce as Pritchard sets out to locate a body Ripley would prefer remain hidden in a nearby river.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really thoroughly enjoyable end to Highsmith’s Ripley series, with Tom Ripley being haunted by a couple who are digging into his past. At times with feels like a greatest hits, with Ripley’s past crimes discussed and dissected. And throughout it all you get the kind of wonderful tension that time and again Highsmith was able to conjuring out of simple uncertainty.
Gripping, darkly amusing stuff.

[Barry Pierce · Rating 2 out of 5]

i do feel bad giving this two stars but it just isn't up there with the previous novels. there's just something missing from this one, maybe the action? it relies a bit too much on the plotlines and characters of the previous books too, instead of being its own thing. how annoying that this is how the "Ripliad" ends, very much a whimper instead of a bang.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most disturbing of the Ripley books, despite the villains being the most despicable and unlikable to date. In a way, David Pritchard is Tom Ripley's opposite number: he's in the same game, but he's hopelessly incompetent at trying to scare Tom or get revenge on him. Pritchard is way outclassed, but Tom has enough secrets that even Pritchard's fumblings felt frightening, as if he might somehow stumble on a way to "get back at" Tom (quotes because Tom has never done anything to Pritchard, who just sees in Tom an easy mark).

However, the disturbing part comes near the end: When Tom and his friend decide to "return" the body of one of Tom's earlier victims, left by Pritchard on Tom's doorstep, I thought it was pretty clever. But then Pritchard, awkward bumbler that he is, falls into the pond investigating, his wife falls in after him, and Tom and Ed hear them drowning--and do nothing. I found this far more disturbing than any of Tom's murders, particularly since I'd felt Pritchard, at least, deserved death. And then Ed, who's initially shocked and horrified by Tom's casual attitude toward their deaths, ends up taking it in stride. That, too, was disturbing. Tom is a sociopath by most standards and his reactions are not at all normal, but Ed is an ordinary guy whose association with crime has always been at a distance. It was a reminder that cheering for Tom Ripley is by no means a moral activity.

I've enjoyed this series and am sad to reach the end of it. Highsmith's writing is elegant and spare in places, brilliantly detailed in others, and I will probably seek out more of her books.

[Michael Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you crack open one of Highsmith's Ripley novels, it's only a matter of time before good old Tom (or 'Tome', as his French acquaintances pronounce it) decides that killing someone is an option to whatever his current predicament happens to be. In "Ripley Under Water", it was definitely trending in that direction but never actually get there. That doesn't mean there's no mayhem, though.

The main story in Under Water involves Tom being stalked by the Pritchards, a strange American couple who've moved into a nearby house in their little French town. David Pritchard introduced himself to Ripley, intimated that he was familiar with both his reputation and with a couple of people who'd been affected by one of his previous exploits that resulted in a death. When continued contact occurs between the Ripleys and the Pritchards in their small town, Tom and wife Heloise are preparing for a vacation in North Africa as strange events occur as a result of Pritchard's obsession with Ripley's past. Ripley, of course, becomes obsessed himself with his stalker and engages his London friends to help him shore up his defense. Meanwhile, Pritchard buys a boat and begins to drag the nearby canals in hope of finding a skeleton proving Ripley had murdered a man that was thought to have just 'disappeared' after meeting with Tom several years prior.

Ripley Under Water had the feel, at least to me, of a story that was essentially just closed out before it was complete. Several threads in the story were introduced and forgotten about (for example, Ripley's relationship with Pritchard's wife and the ass-kicking Tom administered to Pritchard after a meeting) and the conclusion was a nothingburger, particularly inasmuch as it was a perfect setup for a sequel but ended up as the last Ripley novel produced by Highsmith. I've semi-enjoyed the very mannered writing style Highsmith used in the series, Tom's sociopathology, the obliviousness of Heloise, the charm of their housekeeper, and the 'Frenchiness' of the language and approach to life of the characters, but overall the Ripley series peaked at the first one and the remainder has been a bit of a slog. An interesting slog, but a slog nonetheless.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing final 5th volume of the Tom Ripley series.
Don't waste your time with this one.
I read it for completeness, but it was a waste of time.
Also the North African location did not add anything to the plot...Belle Hombre would have been so much better.

[Jerry Mead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the early ones but still a great Ripley story.

[Natalie Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished on a high with the final book in the series.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

"Why did you want to see me?"
"Oh--" His question might have awakened her from a dream. She shook her head a little, and regarded Tom. "To tell you he's playing a game with you. He wants to *hurt* you. He wants to hurt me too. But you--interest him now."

The standard thinking about Highsmith's Ripley series is that Books 4 & 5 ('The Boy Who Followed Ripley' and this last one) are considerably weaker, a real step-down from the first 3 entries. 

That's not true. 

What *is* true is that Books 4 & 5 are slightly different animals - and they're much stronger if you resist the urge to compare them to the previous books. It's not a matter of being 'as good'. In a certain sense, no, they're not as good. They're not as propulsive.

But the merit cannot be denied. To her credit, Highsmith doesn't attempt to simply rewrite what is already there in Books 1-3. She stretches herself, to explore different possibilities, while remaining firmly Ripley-centric. 

In 'RUW', two of Ripley's main previous murders come back to haunt him; a very unlikely reality that may even seem improbable. Yet Highsmith makes it work - reminding the reader that it's not necessary for the improbable to make sense (since, so often in life, it doesn't). 

As I pointed out in my review of 'The Boy Who Followed Ripley', the latter part of Ripley's life has entered a languid phase. Ripley is no longer as active a participant in his desires; he's actually trying to cut himself off more from his previous life. It's just that that life refuses to be done with him. 

Compared with 'The Boy...', 'RUW' may even come off as being lifeless. But, rest assured, like a spider with its web, Highsmith is building a home that doubles as a trap. 

This is particularly true at the midway point - where Highsmith gives us an extremely potent (yet semi-civilized) confrontation between Ripley and a woman who could easily bring Ripley's world down, in almost an instant. That's more than enough of a jolt to segue into something prototypically cat-and-mouse. 

It's true that I occasionally became a bit antsy with where the narrative was going (which explains my slight reduction from full marks). Still, I was able to trust the author (she still makes use of her subordinate characters in cunning, practical ways) - and it paid off splendidly.

In roughly the last 5th of this novel, Highsmith pulls us into a vortex that surprises at just about every turn. The extended finale contains breathless energy, combined with Ripley's trademark ability at nearly impregnable calm. 

In summing up Ripley's questionable reason for being, Highsmith cements her 'hero' as someone a step ahead, swimming almost effortlessly through self-doubt. Whatever you may think of Ripley's law of 'justice', he remains 'talented'. 

Side note: I was tickled by Highsmith's references to the Richard Ellmann bio of Oscar Wilde as well as Billy Wilder's 'Some Like It Hot', which Ripley reads / watches to unwind.

[Carla Remy · Rating 3 out of 5]

12/2019

From 1991
I have read this entire series in the past, and I loved it. But now, and for a while, I find Highsmith way overlong. The writing is good, but it's just slow. So much writing for what happens. I love the Talented Mr. Ripley (of course - it is an amazing book). The first two sequels are good, Ripley Under Ground and Ripley's Game. She should have left it there.

[MustLoveTo · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THIS SERIES. Read all five while living in the city (New York, of course) as a twentysomething. Read them at warp speed, couldn't put them down for a second! (Even Manhattan and all her stirrings couldn't compete for my attention those short couple of weeks.) Still love them, all of them. Can hardly believe I fell in such extreme like for such a borderline borderline but, by the second novel, I was hooked. Smitten even. Alas, this probably says more about my real-life romantic choices sadly (yep, I'd marry 'im!)....I digress.

Seriously. Read. these. books

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

That Patricia Highsmith, such a talented writer. The fifth installment of the Ripliad lost nothing of the originals as is so often the case in long running series and was packed full of nervous tension from first to last.

As a standalone novel I don't think this would work but as an extension of the previous four books it's fabulous. By book five we know Ripley, we share his love for his home and his life, we've even seen the softer side of him develop in his affection for Bernard Tufts (books 2 - 5) and Frank (book 4) and as such we desperately hope he can overcome the dastardly Preekchards and their attempt to destroy all that he has built from his ill-gotten wealth.

Knowing this was the final book in the series, seeing the events unfold in the alarming manner in which they did I felt certain Ripley Under Water would feature the most alarming events in Tom Ripley's life yet written. He has a fear of water after all. This extra knowledge caused my heart to race at every opportunity thanks to the title of the book.

Again the only real weakness is the way Highsmith wrote the novel set in 1991 which certainly wouldn't fit with the actual timeline of Tom Ripley, by 1991 he would have been nearly 60 not the 30 year old we know from the book.

I'm excited to have finished the series as I now have so many other Highsmith suspense novels to enjoy and how could I not when she was clearly so talented?

[Hernán Stuchi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Por fin pude terminar con este bodrio. Tengo la edición de colección que hizo RBA Editores hace más de 20 años, una colección que reúne grandes obras maestras, desde "El amor en los tiempos del cólera" de Gabriel García Márquez, pasando por "La insoportable levedad del ser", de Kundera, "Lolita", de Nabokov, "Madera de héroe", de Delibes, "1984", de Orwell, "La historia interminable", de Ende... ¿me entienden? Obra maestra tras obra maestra. Y encontrarme con esta historia supone para mí un fiasco total. Empecemos.


RESEÑA:

¿Leyeron la sinopsis? ¿Vieron que aparentemente Patricia Highsmith desde el marco del género negro da muestras de una gran profundidad psicológica? Pues no encontré ni al género negro, ni a la gran profundidad psicológica, y si toda la obra de esta mujer es así, por Dios, no puedo entender cómo es una escritora consagrada. Es el relato contínuo de la cotidianeidad de un - como bien lo define el antagonista de la historia - estafador esnob, que se va de vacaciones con su muy esnob esposa, luego se va a Inglaterra a visitar a sus muy esnobs amigos, para volver a la mansión donde vive en un pueblito exclusivo de Francia, todo esto condimentado con la presencia de un sujeto llamado Pritchard (que al parecer todos los franceses tienen problemas para pronunciar), que acosa muy elegantemente a Tom Ripley, trayendo al presente algunos crímenes que Ripley había cometido para sostener su negocio de falsificación de pinturas. La hostilidad entre ambos personajes va escalando a medida que se cruzan, y se producen distintos enfrentamientos hasta que llega el desenlace de la historia.

LO QUE ME GUSTÓ:

Bueno, no todo fue tan horrible. Hubo pocos puntos a favor, pero los hubo. La novela está bien estructurada, y está bien escrita, con una narración llevadera. Ojo, nada espectacular, pero lo suficientemente buena como para permitirme tragar el bodrio del argumento y de los personajes.

La autora expone un gran conocimiento de pintura, y la verdad es que los cuadros y dibujos que se inventó me parecieron bien expresados, me gustó cómo trasmitió ese conocimiento aparentemente visual en palabras, y lo fácil que hizo visualizar cuadros que no existen, si no que son producto de su imaginación. Brillante.

Los principales sucesos se daban en momentos muy sorpresivos, y creo que eso es una virtud. Los personajes son detestables, pero al menos están bien construidos, y la autora logra hacerlos creíbles. O sea, técnicamente, la novela es buena, y lo noté, solo que a mí no me gustó. Y ahora paso a explicarles por qué.

LO QUE NO ME GUSTÓ:

A ver, por dónde empezar.

Pese a que es la quinta entrega de una saga, todo se entiende a la perfección. A medida que se desarrolla la historia, la autora nos muestra el estilo de vida de Tom Ripley: cómo cuida su jardín, lo que come, lo que bebe, lo que bebe cuando va al bar, lo que bebe cuando termina de comer, y cuando se levanta a la mañana y antes de dormir, y lo que bebe su esposa cuando termina de comer, cuando se levanta a la mañana y antes de dormir también.

Constantemente hace observaciones completamente superfluas del mobiliario y de la vestimenta de todas las personas, en una exhibición del supuesto buen gusto de la autora, que para mi son todas fantochadas. Cuando Ripley está en el pueblito donde vive, constantemente la autora nos señala que sale a conducir su Renault marrón, o su Mercedes rojo, como si se tratara del nombre propio de los autos, ¡y no son más que autos! ¡Ya sé que conduce un puto Mercedes, ya sé que es millonario!

En cambio, cuando se va a Marruecos o a Inglaterra, va de café en café, de bar en bar, de restaurant en restaurant, y nuevamente la autora hace gala página tras página de sus conocimientos gastronómicos; y lo hace arriba de un taxi, a través del cual la autora nos hace un retrato vivaz de lo que vio ella arriba del taxi cuando visitó los lugares que visitan los personajes. Nefasto, parece una crónica turística, yo me esperaba otra cosa.

Los personajes se dividen en dos: los protagonistas, que son todos esnobs, y los secundarios, que son los trabajadores, que funcionan como esclavos completamente serviles a la cortesía y el bolsillo de los protagonistas. Y lo peor es que no es satírico: el retrato de Highsmith es fiel a la clase alta europea, y por ello me parece aún más repugnante todo lo que vi. Los taxistas, que son decenas y decenas porque viven en taxi los personajes; los mozos, que son decenas y decenas porque cuando se bajan del taxi se van a un bar a comer algo y la ama de llaves viven constantemente para servirles, ansiosos por su complacencia, totalmente sumisos y corteses. Y siempre, siempre, Ripley se pelea con los demás para pagar, y siempre deja abultadas propinas porque sí. Debe ser cosa mía, pero a mí todo esto me generó un rechazo muy fuerte, me hizo pensar que la autora conoce mucho acerca de ser un aristócrata, de mobiliarios, de platos de comida, de sitios turísticos, pero no conoce nada de la vida de un taxista, de un jardinero, de una ama de llaves o de un mozo. Re-pul-si-vo.

Pasan cosas, claro que sí, pero ni en los momentos más "psicológicamente críticos" pasan sin una copa de gin tonic o un plato de langostas con espárragos y crema de mantequilla con limón, ¿me entienden? Es insoportable, y no exagero, página tras página es así.

Los personajes son bilingues, y la autora va del inglés al francés. A veces no lo aclara, solo pone frases en francés - que los imbéciles de la editorial no se molestaron en traducir, así que tuve que adivinar -, y si no vive aclarando: dijo Tom en inglés, dijo Tom en francés, y la verdad es que no entiendo para qué. Los personajes ingleses hablan en inglés, ya lo sé, y los franceses hablan en francés, ya lo sé, y si hay alguno bilingue, claramente se van a hablar en el idioma que se entiendan. ¿Cuál es la necesidad de aclararlo tantas veces?

Estas cosas que señalo pueden parece menores, pero la realidad es que constitiyen una parte muy influyente y muy grande de toda la novela. Insisto: no exagero, es repetitivo, cansador, vacuo.

IMPRESIÓN GENERAL:

La idea final es interesante, no lo niego. Pero está todo tan cargado de viajes en taxis, descripciones de prendas elegantes, tragos, cafés, y conversaciones banales que siento que la profundidad psicológica se pierde totalmente, pasan cosas graves y a nadie parece importarle, y las cosas están tratadas muy por arriba. Es todo muy aburrido, muy soso, hasta que finalmente ocurre algo y te agarra por sorpresa, pero la verdad es que no vale la pena, porque no descubro nada fuerte de ningún personaje, todos tienen sus vidas muy arregladas y calmas, y la realidad es que Ripley nunca pierde tampoco el control, y los personajes que más locos están, o que al menos que más raros son, que son los antagonistas, son muy poco explotados. Me hubiera gustado ver más a Janice Pritchard, la mujer golpeada y nerviosa, antes que todo lo que tuve que aguantarme a Madame Heloise, la mujer de Ripley, con su pelo rubio y su ma cherie constante y vacío.

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Γέλασε δυνατά. Παιχνίδια, παιχνίδια! Κρυφά και ανοιχτά παιχνίδια. Παιχνίδια που έμοιαζαν ανοιχτά, αλλά ήταν ύπουλα και κρυφά. Και φυσικά τα κρυφά παιχνίδια κατά κανόνα συνεχίζονταν πίσω από κλειστές πόρτες. Και όσοι έπαιρναν μέρος στο παιχνίδι, δεν το έλεγχαν. Ήταν σίγουρο. (σ. 93-94)

Το ''Ripley Underwater'' (πρωτότυπος τίτλος) είναι το πέμπτο και τελευταίο βιβλίο της ''Ριπλιάδας'' (Ripliad) με την υπόγραφή ενός ιερού τέρατος της crime fiction, την μεγάλη Patricia Highsmith. Αυτή η σειρά σύστησε στο αναγνωστικό κοινό έναν από τους περισσότερο αμφιλεγόμενους και συνάμα άκρως γοητευτικούς λογοτεχνικούς ήρωες, τον Tom Ripley. Ο Ripley είναι ένας κατά τα φαινόμενα καθ' όλα ήσυχος και καλλιεργημένος άνθρωπος με ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον στην ζωγραφική και συλλέγει διάφορα έργα τέχνης πάντοτε με ιδιαίτερα ανεπτυγμένο και εκλεπτυσμένο γούστο. Ωστόσο κάτω από αυτή τη μάσκα, ο Ripley είναι ένας κυνικός, υπέρμετρα φιλόδοξος χαρακτήρας που δεν θα διαστάσει ακόμα και να σκοτώσει ώστε να αποκτήσει αυτό που θέλει ή να καλύψει τα ίχνη του από την διάπραξη περασμένων εγκλημάτων. Σε αυτο το βιβλίο που κλείνει αυτήν την εμβληματική σειρά, ο Ripley έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με τον μεγαλύτερο του εφιάλτη, ήτοι την αποκάλυψη των δολοφονιών του Γκρήνληφ και του Μέρτσινσον ( βλ. ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' και ''Ripley Underground'' αντίστοιχα) και βρίσκει στο πρόσωπο ενός πρόσφατου γείτονά του έναν ισάξιο ανταγωνιστή που έχει θέσει ως στόχο της ζωής του την αποκάλυψη του αληθινου προσώπου του Τομ. Ως βιβλίο, το ''Ripley Underwater''σίγουρα δεν είναι το καλύτερο από τα πέντε, ωστόσο είναι και έδω παρόντα τα σημάδια της εξαιρετικής γραφής της Highsmith που χτίζουν αργά-αργά το σασπένς που τραβάει την ιστορία προς τα μπροστά. Σημειωτέον ότι εάν δεν έχετε διαβάσει τα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς, δεν πρέπει σε καμία περίπτωση να ξεκινήσετε από αυτό το βιβλίο, καθώς αποκαλύπτονται σημαντικότατα σημεία της πλοκής των προηγουμένων.

ENGLISH REVIEW

This is the fifth and last installment of the classic ''Ripliad'' by Patricia Highsmith, one of the greatest American crime writers ever. Highsmith created one of the most charming con-men in the history of the genre, the deceitful and morally ambiguous Tom Ripley. ''Ripley Under Water'' is not the best book of the series, in my opinion, this should be credited to the first book, ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'', but it is in accord with the literature quality and style of the previous four novels and succeeds in creating suspenseful atmosphere, which is a trademark of Highsmith's prose, and also, in a way, offers some kind of closure to the fans of the legendary series. Ripley will find himself once again in trouble when an American couple moves to his neighborhood and begin to harass him by threatening Ripley to take the lid off his past misdeeds and reveal the whole truth about cases that Tom considered as closed and long-forgotten. As I already mention the plot is suspenseful and the story follows a slow but solid tempo, culminating in the last 30-40 pages of the book. The finale is decent and consistent with the books' essence, though some may find it to be a bit disappointing, hoping for something greater and stronger. My rating concerns the series as a whole and not only ''Ripley Under Water'' and of course is 5/5 as I believe that the ''Ripliad'' is an iconic work of literature which will be read also by the future generation of crime fiction readers.

[Bryce Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been putting off reading the last of The Riplaid for awhile, but finally got around to it. I'll miss Ripley and Belle Ombre, miss the way Highsmith puts you unabashedly on the side of a monster. Miss the way that Ripley sails through life unperturbed by what he has to do to sustain it's comfort.

A fitting final chapter in a most delightful game.

[Ludmilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ripley serisini seviyorum ancak son iki kitabın gereksiz olduğunu düşünüyorum. Highsmith’in biyografisini aldım, umarım orada bu serinin hayli vasat son iki kitabını nasıl bir motivasyonla yazdığını öğrenebilirim. Seriyi okumayanlara tavsiyem bir kampanya vs olmadığı sürece okumalarını ilk 3 kitapla sınırlandırmaları. 2.5/5

[Wybredna Maruda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chyba oczekiwałabym jakiegoś wyraźniejszego końca, takiego z tupnięciem, ale i tak cała seria była niezwykłą przygodą.
Powiedziałabym, że ten piąty tom stanowi kontynuację drugiego, bezpośrednio nawiązuje do wydarzeń z przeszłości i wyciąga na jaw dotychczasowe grzeszki Toma. Bo oto nagle pojawia się ktoś, kto "wie rzeczy", kto domyśla się, kim w rzeczywistości jest nasz główny bohater, jakie zbrodnie skrywa pod swoją maską ułożonego dżentelmena.
Jednocześnie, po tych już pięciu tomach, mam wrażenie, że w każdym z nich można było przewidzieć zakończenie – w tym uniwersum po prostu opłaca się być amoralnym, a Tomowi i tak wszystko uchodzi na sucho; zadaniem czytelnika jest jedynie obserwować, jak do tego doszło, gdzie tym razem powinie się noga Ripleya i że, mimo wszystko, wyjdzie z tego zachwiania zgrabnie i niezauważenie.
Więc chyba zostanę fanką pierwszego tomu, pozostałe są ciekawe, ale nie zrobiły na mnie aż takiego wrażenia, jak ten pierwszy, najlepszy pomysł, który w kontynuacjach może wydawać się nieco odgrzewany i owijany w coraz to nowy papierek. Nie zmienia to jednak faktu, że seria Highsmith jest oryginalna i nietypowa; nieczęsto spotykamy tak do szpiku złych bohaterów, w których głowach siedzimy i którym kibicujemy, bo ich myśli i motywacje zdają się nawet logiczne i racjonalne, a w "Ripley pod wodą" możemy złapać się na tym, że za villainów opowieści uważamy jedynych, którzy chcą ukazać mordercę :P

Współpraca reklamowa z Wydawnictwem Noir Sur Blanc

[Eggp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dredging up the past
Tom's new neighbors cause a splash
persistence pays off.

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Highsmith, as I have noted before, writes a intriguing set of novels using Tom Ripley as the antihero. Ripley Under the Water is a good example of her craft. Tom and his French wife Heloise, live quietly near a small French village. The only thing one might consider unusual about the house is the presence of a bloodstain on the floor of the basement that Tom explains came from spilling some wine. Indeed, there was wine mixed with the blood for it was with a wine bottle that Tom had killed Mr. Murchison several years earlier. All of a sudden an odd couple appear in the neighborhood and Tom begins to get calls from a man claiming to be Dickie Greenleaf —odd, because Tom had drowned him. Soon this Pritchard has become a positive pest, intimating that Tom is the killer of Murchison, a man who had threatened Ripley's successful painting forgery scam. Pritchard follows Tom and Heloise to Morocco, generally making life unpleasant, but Tom really begins to worry when Pritchard rents a skiff and grappling hooks and begins to drag the canals for the bones of Murchison that Tom knows are there.

[Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

This is the last in the Ripley series, and I found that one disappointing - it is nowhere near the thrill and the excitement of the first novel in the series, and I don't mean just plot-wise.

The plot here is poor anyway: mysterious neighbours arrive and Ripley gets a bad vibe from them. He turns out to be right when the man, Pritchard, starts spying on him, seems to follow him on holiday and is busy taking pictures of his house. This is linked to previous involvement of Ripley in a few suspicious deaths, but instead of making the most of this threat, the book just goes back to repeat the plot of previous books - which readers may have not read - without adding anything. It felt repetitive in that way, but also in the context of the novel itself: every chapter is a phone call to a friend, a trip to London, a call to find out something. It did not feel exciting or dangerous. At the end of the book I still was unclear about the motives of the villain in this story, Pritchard, a villain because he might uncover Ripley's sinister past. To put it simply... it was boring.

[Lou Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent episode from the life and times of Tom Ripley. The sad thing is, I've read them all now. There is no more...plenty of other Patricia Highsmith novels...but no more Ripley.

[Lobo]

Mam teorię, że ta część to money grab, bo Highsmith potrzebowała kasy. Jest mniej konkluzywnym zakończeniem serii niż "Uczeń Ripleya" i nawiązuje wprost do drugiego tomu, który był najpopularniejszym i najlepiej przyjętym ze wszystkich. Jednocześnie to kwintesencja Ripleya: Highsmith wprowadza swoją ulubioną postać stalkera, tylko nie tak ciekawego, jak tytułowy bohater, a do rozwiązania problemu dochodzi, bo Ripley ma więcej szczęścia niż rozumu, jak zwykle. Przy okazji refleksja - Ripley to bohater swoich czasów, wytwór specyficznej zimnowojennej homofobii i świata zbrodni bez analizy DNA i inwigilacji kamer, w żaden sposób nie sprawdziłby się w zmodernizowanej adaptacji. Trzy czwarte powieści to nieustanna zabawa w kotka i myszkę, budowanie napięcia wynikającego z nieprzewidywalności działań szalonego prześladowcy i tego, jak kalkujący, metodyczny Ripley może sobie z nimi radzić - co nie znaczy, że brakuje impulsywnego Ripleya, który działa pod wpływem afektu, inspiracji albo łutu szczęścia. Zakończenie jest z jednej strony bardzo rozczarowujące, a z drugiej tak ironiczne i zabawne, że jednak nie mam o nie pretensji.

Nie ukrywam, że smutno mi żegnać się ze światem Ripleya, w którym zbrodnia popłaca. Poza tym Ripley zabrał mnie do innej rzeczywistości - w której każda pora jest dobra na drinka, nie ma przepisów BHP, prawo podatkowe jest zbiorem luźnych sugestii, willę w Wenecji albo na francuskiej prowincji można kupić za 20 dolców i przeżutą gumę do żucia, a loty samolotowe odbywa się tak jak dzisiaj jazdę tramwajem. Pod względem ekonomicznym to chyba najbardziej eskapistyczna seria powieści, jaką miałam okazję czytać.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very low key and quite slow moving, although not without suspense. I really enjoy Highsmith’s writing and that is surely a prerequisite for this one. Ripley’s past misdeeds seems to come back to haunt him with the arrival of an odd American couple near his French home. A lot of quirky and/or careful conversations, telephone calls and descriptions of meals and changing of clothes and some travelling back and forth. The American couple comes closer and closer and Ripley seems stumped and is making a series of not all the way thought through decisions…

[Craig Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

By finishing this book, "Ripley Under Water," I have at last completed all five books in Patricia Highsmith's so-called Ripliad, her series about charming psychopath Tom Ripley, which I decided to read to celebrate her 100th birthday. This one is different from all the others, but I still liked it.

In the first book, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," the social climber orphan kills two people and gets away with it, in the process making money and gaining status. In the second, "Ripley Under Ground," he's married to a fashionable Frenchwoman and owns a fine house and kills two more people to cover up an art forgery scam he's been involved with, and once again he gets away with it. In the third, "Ripley's Game," he kills (by my count) four people but they're all in the Mafia, and once again gets away with it. In the fourth one, "The Boy Who Followed Ripley," he gets a protege who winds up being kidnapped, and Ripley kills one person in the process of freeing the boy -- and once again he gets away with it.

If you're keeping score, that's nine people he's murdered and while there are some people who suspect his involvement in a couple of the killings -- particularly those of Dickie Greenleaf in the first novel and an art collector named Murchison in the second -- the police have never charged him with so much as spitting on the sidewalk.

Now, though, in the final volume, some of Ripley's past sins come back to haunt him. New neighbors have moved in near his French country house, a pair of Americans named David and Janice Prichard. David Prichard has become obsessed with Ripley. He photographs Ripley's house. He interviews two people involved in the Murchison case. He follows Ripley and his wife down to Morocco. He makes taunting phone calls to Ripley, pretending to be Dickie Greenleaf. Then he does something even more threatening to Ripley's future.

Ripley finds Prichard and his kinky wife Janice annoying and uncouth (oh, my, how he complains about their taste in furniture). He thinks Prichard's mind games are juvenile and he suspects they play weird S&M games with each other. The minute the two are introduced in this novel, all I could think was, "Oh man, Ripley's gonna murder the heck out fhis pair."

SPOILER ALERT: Don't read beyond this point if you don't want to know what happens.

Ripley does not murder anyone in this book. Not a single person. Nobody. That's what I mean when I say this book is different from all the others in the series. He beats someone up, but that's all.

That doesn't mean people don't die because of his actions, however. Meanwhile he actually laughs at them while they're on the point of expiring. The scene where this occurs may be the most riveting thing in any of the Ripley novels. I stayed up past midnight reading it and then finishing the book.

I admit to being just a little disappointed that Ripley himself never ends up in the water, a thing he's always been afraid of (in "Ripley Under Ground" someone tries to kill him and actually buries him alive). Nor do the Prichards really put Ripley into a corner and make him do something desperate. He evades their trap with some ease. I think I like him better when he's working up a sweat.

On the other hand, Highsmith, a skilled practicioner when it comes to irony, also includes a scene where Ripley does his best to avoid hearing his housekeeper cooking lobsters because he feels like they're screaming. He's okay with murder and moving dead bodies, but he's squeamish about torturing shellfish. That's just the RIpley way.

The last we see of Ripley, he has once again avoided police suspicion and is planning a sort of party with his co-conspirators in the forgery scheme and his wife, freshly returned from vacation and, as always, not asking too many questions. It's in some ways the perfect ending to the series.

[callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Talented Mr Ripley’s sequels continually suffer from comparison with its original. As the series reaches its end, the disconnect between the first dark thriller and the novels that followed it is more obvious than ever. Ripley is no longer the menacing psychopath we once met on the beautiful coasts of Italy back in 1955; here, he almost feels like an old friend, save for the homicidal tendencies. How easily Highsmith can make us sympathise with a serial killer is proof enough of her writing talents; how melancholic it feels to finally leave him, even more.

We’re back once more in the familiar settings of Belle Ombre, along with the characters that have been the stars of Tom’s little world since his arrival in France: Héloïse is as charming as ever, Madame Annette her good old generous self, the neighbours still just as rich as they are kind, and the people from the gallery in London as unbothered by crime as could be expected from forgery experts. The neighbourhood thrives still on routine as much as gossip; and even the small trip that Tom and his beloved wife take to Tangier do little to dissipate the resolutely French rural atmosphere of the book.

The only new addition to the tried and tested cast are the Pritchards, a couple of Americans disturbing the picture perfect scenery of Belle Ombre. At this point, we all know where this is heading: someone will get a little bit too close to figuring out Ripley’s true nature, and there will no doubt be a couple more dead bodies found along the way too.

There is absolutely no denying how formulaic this series of books is, but that is what makes it so strangely comforting. We know exactly where this is going: there’s no mystery to solve apart from Tom’s existence itself. How can someone be so devoid of empathy at times and still be so dangerously close to being sympathetic? His affection for forged paintings makes perfect sense: he is in many ways the near perfect copy of a human being. It is only in the rare small imperfect stroke or slightly offputting choice of colour that his true nature can be detected.

A great main character doesn’t necessarily make a great book, let alone five — but Highsmith is smart enough to realise when the right time to stop has come. If the third and fourth instalments of the series sometimes felt, if not bad, at least slightly superfluous, the twelve year break that the author took before writing this conclusion shows a new, more reflective understanding of the character that ties everything that came before it together. Even the less successful of the sequels get a new glow.

If the series had its ups and downs, there is an unmistakable sadness that comes with finally reaching the end of the Ripliad. Tom is still as indecipherable as he was back when we first met him in his American home, and the kindness and sheer normality of everyone around him only serves to highlight how truly deranged he is — just in case we get too tempted to like him. There’s no one quite like Ripley, and no author quite like Highsmith, but the melancholic experience of reading Ripley Under Water will give any fan many reasons to miss them both.