The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith BOOK REVIEW

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/BETTERTHANFOOD

[@Emmareads15]

Coincidentally, I just finished this book yesterday and I was absolutely blown away. I didn't want it to end. What Highsmith did in that book was a magic trick, he's a terrible person, but you're somehow on his side and then quite annoyed with yourself for wanting him to escape. I loved it.

[@mrsc120]

Highsmith was basically evil herself, so she's going to make Ripley her hero and creepily alluring.

[@Emmareads15]

@@mrsc120 How was she evil?

[@mrsc120]

@@Emmareads15 I read, for example, that she said the Nazis only did half a job in exterminating 6 million Jews and that she hated black people as well as Jewish people. The hate info from Edward Helmore who read her diaries.

[@thekeywitness]

I enjoyed both Purple Noon and the Hollywood adaptation. I watched the latter again recently and it made me miss the kind of prestige movies Hollywood used to make (before franchise movies totally took over). Great cast, terrific script, transporting art direction and cinematography. Highly recommended.

[@theblackgloves5416]

You should check out "The American Friend" directed by Wim Wenders. It's based on the 3rd Ripley book Ripley's Game. Both the book and the film are fantastic.

[@alannothnagle]

Yes, it‘s an excellent movie, of the kind that could scarcely be made today!

[@gregf9160]

It is brilliant. Highsmith was a magician wordsmith. The book is quite homoerotic, but Tom _is_ a psychopath, so that's going nowhere, but yes, it's a 100% better than American Psycho. Update, the other two Ripley books are _Ripley Under Ground_ and _Ripley's Game_ which I have to confess I have not yet read (but own copies of), so I will now re-read _The Talented Mr. Ripley_ and for the first time, read the other two.

[@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes]

The Boy who followed Ripley is excellent, very tragic and moves slightly away from Ripley himself. Ripley Underwater is also a good read. Enjoy!

[@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes]

The whole Ripley series is incredible; very exciting and pacy. I love everything I’ve ever read of PH’s.

[@rovert46]

Just read her Diaries and Notebooks. Over 900 pages, but it’s so immersive you’ll fly through it.

[@Sherlika_Gregori]

Highsmith is similar to Henry James , in a sense that they both cherished solitude, they made their choice to live alone, and their fondness for Europe.

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

I respect that you shared you don't like reading long books. I'm definitely like that as well. I feel like there's pressure, whether external or internal, for readers to read long books to prove a point to the others.

[@lilyell6978]

I disagree. Long books offer greater levels of detail, world building and insight by definition. Are there tedious long book? Again, by definition, yes. Are there pointless and surface-level ‘short books’? Definitely. There’s no shame in admitting you like the snappy dopamine hit from shorter books. I do too. But there’s no ‘pressure’, at least from serious readers, because a good long book is better than a good short one.

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

@@lilyell6978 I don't think my point nor Cliff's was that long books were bad. He was talking about himself and his personal reading preferences. I was saying I share those preferences. some people just have more patience than others.

[@austin_penn]

@@lilyell6978 calm down bruh.

[@chrisstew2010]

In my family it was The Fountainhead. Have you read The Fountainhead, well when will you start? What did you think of The Fountainhead, or just wait till you read The Fountainhead is what I heard a lot growing up. It was an interesting story for sure, but Anthem had waaaaaaaay more of an impact on me!!

[@cookiemonstera9218]

this review gave me chills, I dunno, maybe I'm getting sick, or maybe you are just THAT GOOD

[@lamiaitaly2549]

Wonderful story and great locations. Mongibello is based on Positano near Naples which Patricia Highsmith visited. I went there last year and did a video about it on my channel. I don’t want to read the other Ripley novels as he is too darn appealing and it was unsettling identifying or empathising with him. Thanks for the video

[@lamiaitaly2549]

This is the link to the video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIfdkp2era2SfZI

[@FlintSL]

Watched this film recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. The homoeroticism is very strong, as are the sinister undertones which you described in the book. I think you'll love it. You've definitely made this book sound enticing; great review again, Cliffy.

[@ashleys9711]

I listened to the first minute or so of this video, and then bought the Kindle because I knew I was going to like it. Stoked to read this one, thanks Cliff! I too love a shorter book over a long one.

[@blaisetelfer8499]

The film is one of my all-time favorite screenplays, and I've been meaning to check the book out for some time. I'll definitely put it at the top of my list now.

[@VictoriaPichel]

ha ha! Chau! Hello, in my case, and thank you for putting into words the feelings I got by reading the book this past week. I filmed a video for my own channel and I didn't know how to express it. My mind was blown. I didn't want it to end either. I started the next book in the Ripley series but... it's not the same atmosphere. I just wanted that first book to keep on going. Got me on the edge of my seat for days. This, paired with the new adaptation for Netflix, ah, perfect plan.

[@dant5349]

Would really like to see reviews of all the Ripley books! They're just as good imo but much less talked about than the first book

[@lizardslaw2661]

At a used book sale, I recently bought the Folio Society’s box set of the complete Ripley novels by P. Highsmith. Haven’t read them yet but based on your review, they just moved up higher on my reading list. Thank You.

[@BaileeWalsh]

Purple Noon is my favorite film!! I didn't know it was an adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley when I first watched it and have still yet to read any of the Ripley books. I hope to relatively soon, though, with the upcoming Ripley series.

[@Margie75]

Thank you for a great review. I will read this classic when I have an opportunity. Have a great day ❤️

[@eccentricfreckle1652]

This is being used to help me learn the novel for my exams so thank you for this

[@corycastleman6351]

The quote you mentioned at around @12:10 was my favorite quote of the book! I hadn't even watched this until I finished the book lol

[@Wheresnorth4romhere]

I love this book. One of my all time favourites. Great to hear you like it so much also. It gives my ego a boost when it comes to my taste in literature 👍😎

[@corycastleman6351]

Idk if it was just me, but there was this strange and ever present sexual tension throughout most of the book. Yet at the same time, there seemed to be some sort of sexual aversion at the same time. People seemed like objects of desire and repulsion at the same time.

[@Ikaros23]

It`s because Tom is a narcissistic psychopath. Not just a " Psychopath" . In the view of the narcissist all people are as you say " Objects", and also this splith between the people they desire and hate

[@valeriachirinos3937]

Picked up this book from the library one week ago and 100 pages in I'm loving it! I'll save this video for when I'm done with it but I cant wait to hear your opinion about Tom's character :)

[@solovief]

Loved your review but I hope you'll get back with us after you see Purple Noon. If you ever felt like it, I'd love to hear your thoughts about both films and the novel and how they compare to each other in your estimation.

[@alessandrovilla6397]

Man, highly recommend you to watch Purple Noon! It was the first movie of Delon's I'd seen and he embodied the character Marvellously. Then there's Rocco and His Brothers which is gut punching. Easily one the best shot movies I've seen and is one the best archetypal structured movies ever made, which i think you'd thoroughly enjoy 👌

[@andrzejbernat6959]

Hey, great channel. Lots of French lit. Have you read Man's Fate by Malraux? It's amazing.

[@Fitness4London]

Totally agree, this novel is utterly brilliant and definitely in my top 10 novels of all time. I recommend Andrew Wilson's biography Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith.

[@MilliePat]

Am I the only person that noticed that newspapers and police never had pictures of Freddie or Dickie or Tom? The police also never used fingerprints.

[@pdruiz2005]

So...this is "Breaking Bad" (which I also adore), but in medium-length novel form taking place among high-born snobs in the Italian Riviera. OK. You definitely sold me. I just rewatched the movie adaptation of this novel with Matt Damon, and I was definitely struck by the tightness of the plot and complexity of the anti-hero. I knew the book was going to be better. Time to read it!

[@Ryan_Ek2]

It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel that has gripped me the whole way through, so maybe I’ll check this one out! Also, yes, The Passenger is a great film! One of my favourites. It’s up there with L’Avventura.

[@catherinethompson5325]

I just found you through a fountain pen friend who like me is a bibliophile and a fountain pen addict . LOL. but I really like your channel .

[@kathryn3390]

New to Highsmith Country, and are braving it on my own. Like Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, also more popular 'abroad', she holds the mirror. mirror this, agree 100% with you, but for the guilt aspect, though as you stated in the end that isn't so apparent in book one. Guilt, the wrestling with it, being hounded by it, attempts to offset it, etc, is a primary theme [according to her in interviews]. Strangers on a Train should absolutely be read. Talk about page-turner! That said, I'm reading the B-side books/short stories before her greatest hits (Ripley saga). Funny like that. Her diaries and journals (which are simply incredible, and just made available). Think I'll leave her animal stories for last as she's this coroner's eye for detail and, I'm an animal lover. Did read the one about the snails, which is why I've decided to leave them until last. Subscribed.

[@bobcabot]

...the book that did not end would cause an endless loop! without knowing...

[@SmallSpaceCorgi]

Did you see the Netflix series "Ripley"? Brilliant writing.

[@Janette388]

I just finish it the first novel and I LOVED IT! mindblowing book ...but I read the sequels books are not that good...but i do want to read them... but i don't know to waste money if they are not good.

[@gauravjoshi9990]

Do you take notes of what you read?? Or you just read and read . How you retain what you read??? Is there any method you follow to remember things you read or you just forget after sometime ???

[@igorbertoldo6237]

Dude, I'm astonished you haven't reviewed anything Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote! That's outrageous!

[@Liisa3139]

I usually don't like long books either, but I want to try reading DFWs Infinite Jest at some point (this year, I hope). The Feast of the Goat is a great book, despite of being long. I knew nothing about Highsmith; always thought she wrote pulp. Simenon's Maigret has been on my to-read list for a while. My childhood neighbors had lots of Maigrets on their bookshelf.

[@grodyweenie]

Holy shit, I was just considering a re-read. How fortuitous

[@fallenangelz291]

God, I loved that book. I read Deep Water recently, which was also wonderful (but no Ripley!). I plan on reading the rest of the Ripley series this year. I received the recent collection of her short stories, and, sadly, have not been impressed.

[@corycastleman6351]

Deep Water definitely caught my interest too. Want to read that one in the future

[@claugusandres582]

After reading chapter 11th I conclude Tom should have muerdered Marge,instead. He and ricky would have continued visiting cities having coffee at french cafés, then off to Greece,and Italian cities happily.

[@kellylazette5080]

Wim Wenders did a film based on Ripley's Game called The American Friend.

[@estellesstories7467]

Substantive content begins at 7:10

[@pdruiz2005]

At 9:34. You just accidentally struck upon the homoeroticism that Highsmith snuck in there. Otherwise she wouldn't have christened that character "Dickie." LOL...

[@wmayhem]

Portugal for the drinking trip please

[@blakebellamy82]

This review was better than food. Adding this novel to my reading list!

[@blakebellamy82]

Wow, I made this comment nine months ago and just now returned to this video because I just finished this novel. I loved it, thanks for the review Cliff!!!

[@kathleenrivard2881]

Kalamazoo Coffee Co. is my go to. It’s soooo good. And the art is cool.

[@julianasacomani2722]

Awsome video! Tks.

[@starfoxstarfish48484]

Highsmith is a great writer. Please don't pass up on The Price of Salt

[@pdruiz2005]

Oh, whoa! Your opinion of Patricia Highsmith is like my opinion of Virginia Woolf after finishing "Mrs. Dalloway." I HATE reading about rich people and their rich-people problems. But Woolf did such a fantastic job transporting me into the head of this particular high-born, rich British lady with servants I COULD NOT PUT THAT BOOK DOWN. I also didn't want it to end. It's phenomenal. I concur with your shout-out to Borges. Need to put "The Talented Mr. Ripley" on the list of books I must read.

[@mattreis8988]

When are you going to review a Thomas Sowell book?

[@tonylord9917]

Tom wants Dickie. Yep, that could be a problem.

[@curtismoore3565]

Will most likely give this a shot Highly recommend - 'The Society of The Spectacle' by Guy Debord

[@deborahshayne1387]

Two years later..or more…why don’t you watch Netflick’s Ripley…wonderful and of course Matt Damon as Ripley.

[@rubyparchment5523]

Anyone looking for an armful of good, short novels, I recommend Anita Brookner and Highsmith. Cliff just mentioned not wanting Ripley to end. I remember being in hospital cot, waiting for dr., and Tom Ripley was approaching the dock, fearing capture. 😨 The book was over! With covid, I had Paul Scott's THE DAY OF THE SCORPION.

[@aarchi89]

Can you do a review of Beryl Bainsbridge's 'Harriet Said'? I feel like Bainbridge and Highsmith have similar writing style.

[@donaldkelly3983]

The Ambassadors+Jim Thompson = Ripley.

[@flashgordon1262]

I loath matt damon but he is very good in the film which in and of itself is splendid!

[@obscuracrimepodcast]

Thank you for giving this one its due. I hate that it gets written off as a simple thriller.

[@MITCH2449]

Great review

[@wmayhem]

Cool. I will read. Thanks

[@meursault1654]

One of my favorite books of all time and I’ve read it 7? times or so. Best of the Ripley series, though they’re all entertaining, and imho probably Highsmith’s best work overall. Besides all the spot on attributes of the novel you mention in your review, it is such a rare feat for an author to accurately write in the voice of their opposite gender. “The Goldfinch” was a huge fail for me because of this. Henry James, another lover of Venice, could also pull this off.

[@gazzili]

I love your books review! ♥I know you enjoy brazilian literature, so I have a recommendation to you and all who enjoy it. Read "Chronicle of the murdered house" by Lúcio Cardoso! It's a brazilian literature masterpiece.

[@JMcLeodKC711]

Tom Ripley or Patrick Bateman?

[@Dexter-vj2lr]

The same author of Deep water 👍

[@edvhollywood4544]

I lie for fun sometimes. I am in Ischia now looking at all the locations, true. Loved the book , many years ago when I read it. Just extended my trip here, never ever have I seen such beauty, all my travels. Why the word sociopath? Just a horrible evil person thanks.

[@TN-xx4ih]

Collab with Seneca when?

[@robertsantana3261]

Man, this guy dawdles. No more listening to him.

[@humanfirst11]

Hmm it seems like you lost weight. Did you lose weight? 😝

[@MrYago1972]

mate could you do me a favour and form a sentence more than 4 seconds long?

[@zacharyzapata8559]

Dude, what are you supposed to be too cool to do a proper book review? Apparently what Dickie Greenleaf is to Tom Ripley, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray are to you. Come on, Killa. Do better.

[@oleggorsky9131]

I unsubscribe. I don’t understand how can anyone here on KZbin talk about books and ignore what’s happening in the heart of Europe this very moment. That’s inhuman, and I don’t want to support authors who don’t give a f*uck about humanity. Bye.

[@rovert46]

Goodbye Oleg. Did you feel the same during the slaughter of Syrians and many other admittedly inhuman conflicts?

[@oleggorsky9131]

@@rovert46 eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth? Go on, keep silent. But don’t say that you come from a civilized world. Because you’re no better than those freaks who rape our women and kill our children. And people like you make them think there will be no punishment. You can be proud of yourself.

[@duistercool2630]

I was actually reading this too but my bookmark fell out so idk where i am😭