Book Report: The Talented Mr. Ripley
This one was recommended by Jim. Jim is about to get his MFA. He's managed to complete the program while apparently reading nothing but thin books and thrillers. Way back when I was an MFA student, I only read massive tomes like the Gulag Archipelago and Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Ok, I read mostly poetry books that were under 100 pages. Ok, and I particularly liked writers like Russell Edson and Czeslaw Milosz, people who tended to write poems under half a page long. Love that white space.
But anyway, Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, Matt Damon. I saw the movie of the book back when it was first out, but I've forgotten it, and apparently the movie deviated in several significant ways from the book. Either way, the book is pretty good.
I began reading the book on the beach in SF (see picture in previous post). That's fitting. Ripley finds Dickie on the beach in Italy. I, however, didn't kill anybody and assume their identity. And if I did (though I didn't), I wouldn't kill Philip Seymour Hoffman and then almost kill Gwyneth Paltrow.
However, I might enjoy touring Italy on someone else's dime. I might also go on to star in the kick ass Bourne Identity movies.
That's my book report on The Talented Mr. Ripley.
posted by Torgo @ 7:13 PM
2 Comments:
Oh, I didn't know it was a book. When the movie came out, someone told me that The Talented Mr. Ripley was some weird retelling of The Great Gatsby. I guess that person lied.
Full disclosure: I didn't read The Talented Mr. Ripley, because I saw and enjoyed the movie. I also skipped Ripley's Game - again, because I saw the kick-ass movie version with the perfectly cast John Malcovich. (Go rent that!) I began with Ripley Under Ground. What I admire so much about Highsmith is her A+ plotting, they way each chapter poses a new question, a key tension, usually along the lines of: Will Ripley get caught this time? Will this new scheme work? Why is this acqaintance / detective/ neighbor asking so many pesky questions? It's always so smart to make your reader identify with a wrong-doer.
The other thing I like about Highsmith (after reading her biography) is that she traveled with live snails under her breasts. It was the only way she could get them from NYC to Europe without those pesky customs officials.
Unfortunately, according to the bio, she also was mean as hell, fickle and cruel in love (she went through about 1000 women), but can't we overlook that in artists we love? We overlook it in you, Jeff.
Hugs all around.
JK in Chicago
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