Thomas Ripley is given the opportunity to stay in sun-drenched Italy with its idyllic blue waters and dusted landscape, and he seizes it. While his task is to bring Dickie Greenleaf back home to America, he ends up doing just the opposite, and there is nothing that stops him from keeping hold of Dickie's hedonistic and carefree lifestyle, and making it his own. A young underachiever's journey at becoming a millionaire playboy in a place where he can be anyone.
I'll be completely honest here, the reason I read the book in the first place was because I enjoyed the movie. That is, the 1999 film (dir. Anthony Minghella) starring Matt Damon and Jude Law. There is also the 1960 film Purple Noon (dir. René Clément) that stars Alain Delon in his prime, which adapted the book slightly differently. What initially drew me to it was that it was set in 50's Italy, a time period and location I particularly enjoy, and both the book and movie use it well.
To focus on the book, I find that Highsmith's illustration of a schizophrenic murderer is precise, stylish, and with time, develops nicely into a character that readers cannot help but feel somewhat drawn to. Somehow, his inner monologue is both disturbing and reasonable and I found myself rooting for him when interrogated by the police. His absolute detestation of his original identity as Tom Ripley, contrasted with his sense of superiority that can only have come from being in character as Dickie Greenleaf for too long, is something incredibly subtle yet awe-inspiring. Tom grows as the book does, and strangely, he fits more into his character the deeper he becomes another. The dusty, hedonistic, and historic backdrop of Italy (Mongibello, a fictional little village, not to mention Rome, Venice, Naples, etc.) is appealing and beautiful. It is painted as a place of beauty and wealth where an individual is free to completely start over as whoever they wished they were (provided they have the money, of course). Sipping espressos until 2am, day trips to neighbouring towns, boat trips on the lake. Roman cigarettes, signet rings, open-top cars, pressed shirts and slacks.
To see it from a sociopath's perspective makes it all the more interesting - he is somewhat childish in his demeanor, and giddy, and yet his bursts of anger are terrifying. You fear for anyone in the same room as him. In the movie, a small flicker of annoyance in his face, a flash of baring teeth, a sinister curling of the lip, is enough for a viewer to want to scream at the other characters to run. It's hard to look away.
In the 1999 adaptation, Tom struggles with his sexuality, compared to the 1960 film, where he is possessed by greed rather than a struggle for identity - both themes are prevalent in the book, which is expected of such a narcissist who hovers between sociopath and psychopath.
Admittedly, it took me a while to finish the book, and I found that Tom's run from the police and his hopping around Italy started to bore me after a while, but it was not a book I would completely abandon - the plot stayed enticing, and the ending did not disappoint. All-in-all, if you're a fan of crime, I would highly recommend reading this book or watching the movies. Just don't get any ideas.
“He loved possessions, not masses of them, but a select few that he did not part with. They gave a man self-respect. Not ostentation but quality, and the love that cherished the quality. Possessions reminded him that he existed, and made him enjoy his existence. It was as simple as that. And wasn't that worth something? He existed."