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A review by sjgrodsky
The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
5.0
The best Ripley so far. All three of the previous Ripleys started well but dragged towards the middle. But this one moves at warp speed! And it presents Ripley as a (semi) likeable character — a big brother, if not a father.
In fact, after a very good start, I found that the Berlin pages rather dragged. I get that Highsmith was implying, though with plausible deniability, that Ripley is gay. She’s danced around that possibility before. But I am reading this work in 2023. “He’s gay” elicits only a slightly bored response: “So what?”
The important question I struggled with after reading the last page was this: How the heck does Ripley’s heart work? If he liked Frank enough to risk his own life (by rescuing Frank from kidnappers), how can he ignore Frank’s suicidal tendencies? You have the feeling that the neglect is knowing and intentional. But why?
Of course, we are talking about Tom, the well mannered, cultured sociopath. So maybe this is a dumb question.
In fact, after a very good start, I found that the Berlin pages rather dragged. I get that Highsmith was implying, though with plausible deniability, that Ripley is gay. She’s danced around that possibility before. But I am reading this work in 2023. “He’s gay” elicits only a slightly bored response: “So what?”
The important question I struggled with after reading the last page was this: How the heck does Ripley’s heart work? If he liked Frank enough to risk his own life (by rescuing Frank from kidnappers), how can he ignore Frank’s suicidal tendencies? You have the feeling that the neglect is knowing and intentional. But why?
Of course, we are talking about Tom, the well mannered, cultured sociopath. So maybe this is a dumb question.