| The Talented Mr. Ripley | |
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 1st edition cover |
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| Author | Patricia Highsmith |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ripliad |
| Genre(s) | crime novel |
| Publisher | McCann (USA) & Cresset Press (UK) |
| Publication date | 1955 |
| Media type | Print (hardback, paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Followed by | Ripley Under Ground |
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. This novel first introduced the character of Tom Ripley, who would return in the novels Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water, known collectively as the Ripliad.
Contents |
Plot summary
Tom Ripley is a young man struggling to make a living in New York City, with no prospects but with a talent to survive by doing whatever is required. When approached by shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf to travel to Italy to persuade Greenleaf's errant son, Dickie, to return to the United States and join the family business, Ripley sees this as an opportunity. Shortly after his arrival in Italy, he meets Greenleaf and his girlfriend Marge Sherwood, and quickly ingratiates himself with the couple. Over time, however, Sherwood becomes suspicious of Ripley, and Greenleaf begins to tire of him, resenting Ripley's constant presence and growing dependence. Ripley's own feelings are complicated by his desire to maintain the new wealthy lifestyle Greenleaf has afforded him.
As a gesture to Ripley, Greenleaf agrees to travel with him on a short holiday to San Remo. The two hire a small boat, and Ripley murders Greenleaf onboard. He dumps Greenleaf's body, weighed down by the anchor, into the water and scuttles the boat.
Ripley assumes Greenleaf's identity, living off the latter's allowance and carefully providing communications to Sherwood to assure her that Greenleaf has merely deserted her. Freddie Miles, an old friend of Greenleaf, visits Ripley at what he supposes to be Greenleaf's apartment in Rome. He is immediately suspicious of Ripley and suspects something is wrong. The confrontation results in Ripley murdering Miles. Ripley's existence becomes a cat and mouse game with the Italian police with Ripley managing to keep himself safe by restoring his own identity and moving to Venice. In succession, Sherwood, Greenleaf's father and an American private detective confront Ripley. He contemplates murdering Sherwood, but when he finally realises that they have accepted his story, changes his mind. The story concludes with Ripley travelling to Greece. However, on arrival in Greece, he discovers that the Greenleaf family has accepted that Dickie Greenleaf is dead and that Ripley shall inherit Dickie's fortune according to a will forged by Ripley on Dickie's Hermes typewriter. While the book ends with Ripley happily rich, it also suggests that he may forever be dogged by paranoia; in one of the final paragraphs, he nervously envisions a group of police officers waiting to arrest him, and Highsmith leaves her protagonist wondering whether "he was going to see policemen waiting for him on every pier that he ever approached."
Awards and nominations
The novel won an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Patricia Highsmith.
Adaptations
- Plein Soleil (also known as Purple Noon) (1960), directed by René Clément and starring Alain Delon as Ripley and Maurice Ronet as Greenleaf.
- The 1999 film version starred Matt Damon as Ripley.
- The 2009 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the Ripliad stars Ian Hart as Ripley.[1]
Footnotes
External links
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