Just over a year ago, which I can’t even begin to believe it’s already been that long, publishing firm W. W. Norton released a box set of all five Tom Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith. I had read The Talented Mr. Ripley separately, but was so impressed with it that I found myself ordering this set (pictured above) as my birthday present to myself. It was well worth it, despite the stunning price tag of $100.00; but I only paid about $65 for it on Amazon.
It might sound like a bold statement to make, but I consider these books to be five of the finest works in world literature; and certainly modern literature.
It’s hard to define what they are exactly. Mysteries? Thrillers? Even defining the character of Tom Ripley is a challenge. Is he a serial killer, or isn’t he? Gay, straight; maybe bi? I will say one thing about him, and that’s quite simply that I fell for him as any lover would swoon, but there were points where he outright terrified me as well.
It’s one of the many brilliant mechanics that Highsmith utilizes in her saga, as nothing is what it seems and anything can happen at any given moment; there are a lot of plates that are spinning and they could come crashing down like a house of cards at any time.
That strange, almost surreal suspense was something that I appreciated about the Anthony Minghella film, ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’ from 1999 which starred Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett. I was absolutely blown away by the film when I saw it, and spent the good two and a half hours it ran for with absolute knots in my stomach. The photography was stunning, as was it’s terribly sexy cast, and I considered it one of the best films of the year, and a personal favorite in general.
Then I read the book and it was nothing like the film. The book was better.
What was missing from the film adaptation was the wonderfully wicked and dark humor. The story also veered off in different directions, and I was shocked that Cate Blanchett’s character had been completely manufactured for the script!
Oh, well. I can appreciate the Minghella film as Tom Ripley fan fiction, and I can also appreciate the french version, ‘Purple Noon,’ which stars Alain Delon. I’ve yet to see the ‘Ripley Under Ground’ take with Malkovich, but I’m going to operate with the understanding that we may never see a faithful film chronicle of Tom, and to recreate the books might generally be impossible to start with.
I’ll share more about my thoughts on the Ripley saga, but in the meantime, here are some pics from The Complete Ripley Novels. It includes The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water. The set was released in October, 2008 and features design by Chin-Yee Lai.
The books spell RIPLEY when standing together.
The red from the cover designs carry over to the endpapers.
Each book has a different icon to signify it.
And here is the epigraph from the final book:
