I had never seen this book before or even heard of until I borrowed this copy. I didn’t know what to expect really but naturally, I wasn’t going to turn it away. It’s not a very long book, about thirty chapters. Which I split into two night, fifteen chapters each. I didn’t want to rush the book plus it was quite unnerving so I had to settle the book down half way just to gather my thoughts.
It was a very interesting novel, I got some vibes of Gatsby as well as the film version of American Pyscho. Tom Ripley's character looking for the opportunity to make his life more enriched gave me vibes of a young Jay Gatsby, and naturally, the novel is set in America. Not a 1920's America though, I think it was more modern but before mobile phones and where communication across countries were through letters. I liked this sort of link, it was just a nice montage almost to a favourite novel. The American Pyscho aspect came from Tom's change of character, when he disguises as Dickie and murders two people and continues to go on with life like it nothing happened. This is why I felt a very unnerving feeling, it was tense witnessing this character get away with murder. I haven't read many crime novels but I now definitely want to. Ripley's character is a strange protagonist, I didn't find myself rooting for him but I was just curious to see his next move and see how he would end up. It was intriguing seeing him wiggle out of alarming situations so easily. Like meeting a police officers pretending to be Dickie and then again as himself Tom and they were none the wiser. Surely you would see the difference? A bit of hair dye can't change an entire person.
The Author Patricia Highsmith is a very detailed writer, this I enjoyed very much. Her description of people and places, I have found myself wanting to visit Italy after reading this novel. The vivid descriptions really painted a beautiful picture in my hair, but also it would be cool to see the places Tom Ripley visited.
The book is very good read, interesting and intriguing. I feel like the ending was my least favourite thing about the novel, he got away with two murders and took all of Dickie's money pretty much in front of Dickie's parent's eyes and they were okay with it. There is no consequence to his actions at all, it just ended with him free going off to Athens in a taxi. Very unsatisfying. There are other novels from the author, some about Tom.I am curious to see if these are follow-ons, so in the future expect more reviews of books by Patricia Highsmith.
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