Reviews

El talento de Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

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dkmorello's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An excellent one-two punch — reading the book at the same time I watch the 2024 Netflix series Ripley. An outsider ingratiates himself into a small group in Italy and, in response to a series of actions and challenges, ends up disposing of two people and assuming the identity of one. Where the book is internal monologue of the main character in all his guises, the movie dispenses with narration and instead uses actor Andrew Scott’s expressions, silence and actions to convey atmosphere, emotion, distaste, anger and nervousness. I liked the novel as much as I did because I watched the series concurrently.

gmackie04's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is enjoyable as a tense yet easy to read story which explores inner conflict to a maniacal degree. My issues with it largely lay in the pacing which was at times painfully slow and the slightly unsatisfying ending. I was also expecting it to be much more tense given what an amazing job the film does at that (it was still tense just maybe not as much)