Just how far will Mr Ripley go to secure the good life?
Mr Ripley – the blurb
Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over.
Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he’s willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.
One for the money
The BBC one declared The Talented Mr Ripley as one of ‘100 Novels That Shaped Our World’. I’m not sure what world shaping it did exactly but I can well understand why this book, first published in 1955, has risen to classic status.
I found Tom Ripley to be a brilliant lead. Darkly obsessive, the depths of his inventiveness to stay ahead unpeeling themselves with every turn of the page. I didn’t like the man but found myself urging him to just get the hell out of there as the police closed in and he contemplated sailing to Greece. How fitting the book is called The Talented Mr Ripley about a man who manages to pull off impersonation in an effort to escape his name.
The tension added to the general sense of claustrophobia in the book. Tom couldn’t escape acquaintances, even in towns he had never visited before. The weather was wet and dark, even in Italy and the police! It felt like there were only 2 in the whole country and they were constantly on the prowl.
I really enjoyed the read and was surprised to find it is actually part of a series. I can’t imagine what Mr Ripley gets up to next, surely it can’t be as despicable as what has gone on before but then he is one very talented man.
