The Mysterious Mr Ripley

Finito! This was actually a compilation of three of the Ripley books: The Talented Mr Ripley, Ripley Underground and Ripley's Game. So, in my defense, that's why it's taken me so long to update.

The incredible cast of The Talented Mr Ripley

The first Ripley book was all well and good; he casually kills Dickie Greenleaf, a man he's gradually building up a friendship with. This then leads to the murder of Greanleaf's friend Freddie Miles. This all happens within the first 100 pages, and it progresses with him nervously trying to cover up the existence of Tom Ripley, and essentially becoming Dickie Greenleaf. The nervousness and anxiety is sustained for the duration of the book, and it gets, frankly, really boring. Yes, he killed two men, but the first rule of a murder is never return to the scene of the crime, and definitely don't stay in the country it was committed in! Jesus, you would think that such a devious man as Tom Ripley would realise this, but apparently not. It all becomes very formulaic, with frequent visits from the police/Dickie's lover/Dickie's father. It ends with him escaping to Greece. It was all very predictable from the start and didn't have much else to set it apart from any other murder mystery-thriller.

The second book, Ripley Underground, was different in that it's set Villeperce, France. Tom's now a married man and has attempted to wipe the slate clean vis-a-vis the Dickie Greenleaf scandal. He's involved in an organisation that sells fraudulent copies of the fictional artist Derwatt's paintings. There's a person who knows the paintings are fakes, Tom kills him, spends the rest of the book covering it up, yada yada yada. Again, pretty much the same.

The last book is a drastic move away from the other two. It's about Jonathan Trevanny and his dabblings in organised crime. Tragic ending (I won't spoil it) and it's a teensy bit better than the other two, but honestly, it's pretty much the same plot. The ultimate failing of the series is that it's written in the third person but from Tom's point of view, meaning the reader doesn't get the full impact of how sick and psychopathic he really is. This means we just take it for granted that he's going to murder all of these people and get bored. Like I did.

There's another book after this, The Boy Who Followed Ripley, but I think I'll give it a miss. The film series, the first one starring Matt Damon, and the others John Malkovich, is a rare case of the films being miles better than the books. Next on my list is Hard Times, by Charles Dickens. Update you when it's all done!