Book Club: Read ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ With the Book Review

When it comes to summer reading, I’m torn between two philosophies. On one hand, I think that summer, with its long, leisurely hours, is the perfect time to dive into a classic that you’ve been meaning to read but haven’t gotten around to yet. (You have the time now — when else are you going to do your ambitious reading?) And on the other hand, I think the summer is the season of vacation, the season of relaxing, so pick up something fun, something entertaining, something propulsive, and enjoy.

But why choose between one philosophy or the other? Why not pick up a book that accomplishes both?

That’s why for July, the Book Review Book Club is reading Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 thriller “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

The novel follows a young, down-on-his-luck scammer, Tom Ripley, who is looking to reverse his fortunes. When he receives a job offer to go to Italy and retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich socialite on an endless holiday, Tom finds the perfect opportunity to work his way into the upper crust. But as he becomes more and more obsessed with Dickie and Dickie’s life, the breezy getaway turns into something much more sinister, sending them down a dangerous path.

We’ll be chatting about “The Talented Mr. Ripley” on The Book Review podcast on July 26, and we’d love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comment section of this article by July 19, and we may mention your observations in the episode.

Here’s some related reading to get the conversation started:

Our crime fiction columnist Sarah Weinman’s essential guide to Patricia Highsmith’s books: “So what is it about Patricia Highsmith that keeps us reading? I’ll answer strictly for myself: Her concepts are daring, her portrayals of men in the throes of personality disorder and psychopathic leanings are equally repulsive and propulsive, and there is enough sublimated autobiography in her work that searching out the facts of her life reveals all manner of infuriating contradictions.” [Read the full guide here.]
Megan O’Grady’s essay for T Magazine about the enduring relevance of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”: “When ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ was first published, a villain who never gets his comeuppance was still rare and transgressive in American literature. Ripley became the vanguard for an unsettlingly relatable kind of con man, one who ensnared us in his worldview, who was as secretly cutting in his observations as we were, who challenged the presumptions of how not just his but all narratives should unfold.” [Read the full essay here.]
Janet Maslin’s review of the 1999 film adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” directed by Anthony Minghella: “A flood of adjectives bursts onto the screen at the start of Anthony Minghella’s glittering new thriller, considering ways to describe Tom Ripley before settling on ‘talented’ as le mot juste. This is only a minuscule show of ingenuity, but it’s also a promise that the film will keep. ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ offers diabolically smart surprises wherever you care to look.” [Read the full review here.]
The New York Times television critic Mike Hale’s review of ‘Ripley,’ the recent TV adaptation of the book, directed by Steven Zaillian: “The novel is both a psychological study and, in its second two-thirds, a parlor trick, as Highsmith maneuvers Ripley into and out of one seemingly disastrous setback after another. ‘Ripley’ stays more firmly on the surface, and Zaillian makes a number of changes, small and large, that maintain the tension while making the story’s convolutions more believable.” [Read the full review here.]