Colin Baldwin's Reviews > The Talented Mr Ripley

4 solid stars from me.
I could have gone to 4.5 stars but a Goodreads friend suggested the follow-up books are even better than the original, so I do need to leave some room to move.
The plan is to read the series with my buddy reader Marge Moen. In the meantime, we’ve had a great time exchanging thoughts about this original: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mr Tom Ripley, who is this guy and what really makes him tick? Readers may not get all the answers, I certainly didn’t, and his ‘talents’ may confound some. I found him an interesting, disturbing and somewhat pathetic fella.

He’s been labelled as a ‘…dapper sociopath’, plus an ‘…agreeable and urbane psychopath’. I’m not qualified to discuss these labels, but our Tom Ripley certainly starts out as a bumbling opportunist turned killer. Throw in some misogamy, dubious sexuality and self-pity and you might get half-way to understanding him.

I like Patricia Highsmith’s writing style. I also like the pace in which she builds her main character and delivers the storyline. This is not a long read and everything is not served up on a platter. Marge and I tried to second guess a few things throughout the buddy read but soon realised the author cleverly paints Mr Ripley with both the sympathy and antipathy brush.