Things I Like - Books

The book from last week’s post, Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris, reminded me quite a bit of the works of Patricia Highsmith, especially her Ripley series.

There are five novels in the “Ripliad”, all following the life of her twisted and amoral protagonist Tom Ripley.

The first three books have been made into movies, some more than once. The most well known is probably the 1999 film, The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Mat Damon and Jude Law (hard to believe that this movie is 10 years old). The Hitchcock classic, Strangers on a Train, is also based on one of her novels. Her other novels and short stories tend to include unfortunate situations and characters who don’t always stick to the straight and narrow when dealing with them. Highsmith was definitely a writer comfortable exploring the dark side of humanity.

What doesn’t really come through in the movies is her gift for getting the reader to identify with these warped individuals. You know that you’re supposed to be appalled when Tom Ripley murders Dickie Greenleaf, but you can also see it from Tom’s point of view. He was only doing what was necessary to defend his preferred way of life. Besides, he only murders as a last resort.

I found two sources of on-line biography for Highsmith - a website from her publisher W. W. Norton and Wikipedia. As might be expected, the Norton site presents a favorable picture of the author. The Wikipedia piece, on the other hand, goes a long way toward explaining Highsmith's fascination with dark characters. One of those cases where I could have gotten along without knowing so much about the author – she was one unhappy person.