Product Description:

Penzler Pick, February 2000: 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 The Talented Mr. Ripley, 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.

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, Strangers on a Train, 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.

The first of the Ripley novels is The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which the ne'er-do-well Tom Ripley commits murder and assumes the identity of his wealthy friend. In Ripley Underground, 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 Ripley's Game, a casual snub causes Tom to concoct a scheme involving several murders, the Mafia, and a great deal of money.

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. --Otto Penzler

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: 4.38 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Highsmith trilogy
Being a mysterious person herself, it is no wonder that she was able to create the character Tom Ripley. I found the book absolutely irresistable. The main character Tom is introduced to us in the first novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Homoeroticism is clearly evident, yet Highsmith decides to mask this by marrying Tom off to a lovely French woman in the second novel, "Ripley Under Ground". I loved the development of the characters, and Highsmiths brilliant ability to create a claustrophobic environment from which Tom can not escape. His only chances to breathe stem from his murderous escapades with in each novel.

As an avid Christie reader, I found these novels not only to be a nice change of pace, but also intelligent, and geared towards the literary mystery reader.

Rating:

- Truly a masterpiece--or three...
If you've seen the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley" with Matt Damon, you know what an interesting story it is. However, the book provides a lot of interesting side notes that the movie left out.

All three books in this "collection" read very quickly, build on each other, and are able to hold your attention for hours. Highsmith has done some fascinating work--even though Ripley is such a horrible person, you find yourself sympathizing with him.

A terrific read... I highly recommend it.

Rating:

- A splendid triple treat edition worth owning
Coming to Ms Highsmith via Mr Hitchcock (Strangers on a Train, The American Friend) I was struck by the way in which the writer had me liking Mr Ripley and disliking most of the other characters in these stories, even though Mr Ripley is a liar, a murderer, a thief, a cold calculating fish who delights in deceit and undermining others, manipulating the world around him to suit his selfish ends - maybe he represents the child in us, a character who gives expression to the dark side of our nature by allowing us to live through his adventures. He is superior, snobbish and incredibly attentive to detail. His knowledge of the art world, of Europe as the civilised centre of the universe, and many other matters make him something of a gourmet, bon vivant, idler. The world is just a large play pen ... Read More

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