It’s weird. I thought I read this book years ago and just realized as I was reading, nope. I think I got the movie mixed up in my head. This is going to be a short review, this was very good. Tom Ripley is a hot mess and you keep waiting for him to get caught, but he does not. I also felt a strange pity for this character because he seems hell-bent on not being thought of as queer, but one wonders if he was asexual for how he seemed to be sickened regarding Dickie doing anything with Marge. Or was he just possessive and controlling?
The Talented Mr. Ripley follows Tom Ripley who is going through some very terrible times right now. He’s lost his job and is living with someone who disgusts him. When he is followed into a bar by a man named Mr. Herbert Greenleaf though, Tom finds that his luck may be changing. Tom’s name has been bandied about and he is said to be someone that could possibly get the younger Greenleaf, known as Dickie to return from Italy and come back home to New York. Tom initially thinks this is a way to get out New York, outrun his troubles, and get some money to explore Europe. However, he meets Dickie and quickly grows obsessed with him. The novel follows Tom as he does whatever he can to stay in Dickie’s life, and what he does after he realizes that he’s not as welcomed into Dickie’s life as he thought.
Man, Tom is a mess. I think the scene that made me cringe the worst is when Dickie catches him wearing his clothes. Tom is just focused on pushing Marge out of Dickie’s life and is in tears several times thinking of the two of them together. You just wanted to pat him on his head and beg him to get a hobby and just leave Dickie alone. But of course he can’t. And you have Tom increasingly desperate to get Dickie away from Marge, thinking she’s the issue. But of course she’s not.
The other characters in this one are just very well done, you have Marge, Herbert Greenleaf, Freddie Miles, etc. But all just seem to be chess pieces that Tom is moving around. The flow of the book is great too. There does not seem to be a wasted sentence in the whole book. You just keep holding your breath at times waiting to see if this is where Tom finally gets caught.
The setting of the book takes place in the 1950s in New York and mostly Italy. We have Tom move around, but honestly, he seems to just be in so many places, but you can tell he’s not enjoying it. His paranoia and stress about what he has done and being found out is foremost in his mind.
The ending was a surprise to me, and one wonders if Tom will continue to enjoy his life with him looking constantly over his shoulder.
I read this for Halloween Bingo 2025, “Noir” square.