The Talented Mr. Ripley Audiobook By Patricia Highsmith cover art

The Talented Mr. Ripley

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The Talented Mr. Ripley

By: Patricia Highsmith
Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
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Since his debut in 1955, Tom Ripley has evolved into the ultimate bad boy sociopath, influencing countless novelists and filmmakers.

In this first novel, we are introduced to suave, handsome Tom Ripley: a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s. A product of a broken home, branded a "sissy" by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend, Dickie Greenleaf. This fondness turns obsessive when Ripley is sent to Italy to bring back his libertine pal, but he grows enraged by Dickie's ambivalent feelings for Marge, a charming American dilettante.

A dark reworking of Henry James's The Ambassadors, The Talented Mr. Ripley—immortalized in the 1998 film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gywneth Paltrow—is an unforgettable introduction to this debonair confidence man, whose talent for self-invention and calculated murder is chronicled in four subsequent novels.

©1955 Patricia Highsmith. Copyright renewed 1983 by Patricia Highsmith. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Crime Fiction Thriller & Suspense Suspense Mystery Serial Killers Scary

Critic reviews

"One of the great crime novels of the 20th century, Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley is a blend of the narrative subtlety of Henry James and the self-reflexive irony of Vladimir Nabokov. Like the best modernist fiction, Ripley works on two levels. First, it is the story of a young man, Tom Ripley, whose nihilistic tendencies lead him on a deadly passage across Europe. On another level, the novel is a commentary on fictionmaking and techniques of narrative persuasion. Like Humbert Humbert, Tom Ripley seduces readers into empathizing with him even as his actions defy all moral standards." (Amazon.com review)
"[Highsmith] has created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger." (Graham Greene)
"One of our greatest modernist writers." (Gore Vidal)

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I have read several of Patricia Highsmith's books before, though this is the first audiobook of her work that I have listened too. She is wonderful at writing psychologically creepy thrillers, and that is relayed nicely in this production. What I had not gotten from the movie version was how much Tom Ripley was a dreamer. Yes, he was a sociopath, but he was also a rampant dreamer who created elaborate scenarios in his mind of what his life could be like, "if only......." Sort of like a sociopathic Walter Mitty. His lies were all about making his life easy, but he never knew how he would do that until the opportunity presented itself. When it did, though, he showed no hesitation, conscience, or guilt about what he had to do, and was a practiced and skilled liar.

The narration might be considered too slow for some, but I thought it created the slightly creepy and sly sort of environment that fit Highsmith's style of writing and characterizations.

a sociopathic dreamer

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Like it felt weird knowing that he’d get away with everything (that’s not a spoiler; how else could there be four more books in the series?). And it felt even weirder when I caught myself kinda-sorta hoping he would get away with it (hey, I’m used to liking my protagonists, and we spend the entire book in Tom’s head, viewing everything and everyone from his perspective).

But most of the time, while I couldn’t stop listening, I also couldn’t ignore the knot of uneasiness I carried around in the pit of my stomach. Another reviewer has likened this book to watching a car wreck, and she’s right. I’d only add that it’s a car wreck in which all the innocent people are injured or killed, while the person who caused the accident walks away, haunted not by any guilt, but only by fears of getting caught.

On the other hand, it feels perfectly natural giving Kevin Kenerly five stars. Highsmith’s achievement is to make the inconceivable perfectly plausible, and our narrator brings it all believably, chillingly, to life.

Feels Weird Giving Tom Ripley Five Stars

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Audible should ensure that anyone hired to narrate a book that includes words and sentences in a foreign language knows how to pronounce that language or is at least coached in the pronunciation. Presumably Mr. Kenerly claimed to be able to read the substantial amount of Italian accurately when he accepted the assignment, but in fact he mispronounced the majority of the Italian words, even words that one expects anyone, Italian speaking or not, to know: "pizzeria," "Via Veneto," for example. It was such an irritant that I came close to abandoning the book a couple of times.

Mr. Kenerly's narration was acceptable as long as he was speaking English, so if you don't speak Italian, you'll probably enjoy it. If you do speak Italian his rendering will be like fingernails on a blackboard.

Marred by a narrator who mangles Italian

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I chose this read/listen because I read somewhere that Donna Tartt recommended this book and I am a fan of The Secret History. They are complimentary and it also reminded me of another great listen and narration, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Three beautifully written and skilfully plotted novels.

Great story and narration!

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Where does The Talented Mr. Ripley rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book was excellent, the characters were enchanting, and the skeems were amazing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Talented Mr. Ripley?

The best moments dealt with Ripley's skeems to cover up his crimes and walk away with everything.

Which scene was your favorite?

Although graphic, the murder sceens were amazing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Ripley murders Dickey.

Mastermind meet the rich

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