The Talented Mr. Ripley

By: Patricia Highsmith

Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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)

As good as the movie!!!

What a great book,I liked the movie and I loved the book. I put this book off a couple times but I finally made my way to it,then I couldn't put it down.. I didn't know they were three more books in the series and I can't wait to get to them. Mr Ripley will keep you on the edge of your seat!! The crazy thing is you know Ripley is a bad guy but you keep rooting for him. At every turn and corner he is about to be caught but always finds his way out!!
Short book but a great read!!! Must read!!!

Wish they would remake the movie

Would you listen to The Talented Mr. Ripley again? Why?

Yes, the narrator is intoxicating

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

Mr. Ripley's true thoughts about Marge were hilarious to me

Have you listened to any of Kevin Kenerly’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I wouldn't have wanted to listen to it in one sitting because there are alot of details about Ripley's scams and it is a little too much information and becomes boring.

Any additional comments?

Love Tom Ripley's character. I started off with the movie many many years ago and always loved it. Finally read the book and don't regret it. Never knew it was a trilogy.

Perfect for audio format

Classic story, entertaining and read well. Perfect for listening rather than reading. Engaging and does not require 100% focus, so this was a good book for listening to while doing laundry, cooking etc. Recommended.

Not my favorite

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

I enjoyed the story, although the narrator drags down the rating a bit for me. I must admit that, of all the audiobooks to which I've listened, I enjoyed this one the least.

What did you like best about this story?

I never saw the film, but the author's writing is so precise and so evocative, I felt like I saw the story evolving in my head as I listened.

What aspect of Kevin Kenerly’s performance would you have changed?

All of it. Mr. Kenerly's overly-affected speech often distracted me from the story. He should stick to Shakespeare.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Nice guy ends up head first in the Mediterranean; and bad guy is incredibly lucky.

Any additional comments?

This must have been a real page turner in its time. In 2012, the tax cheat, Thomas Ripley, would have been caught before he ever left New York for Italy, but then there would have been no opportunity for such a fanciful story taking us on a tour of Europe.

Tense and enjoyable

Boy does this book keep the tension high. The descriptions are wonderful and I definitely felt everything Mr. Ripley felt all the way through. An interesting take on a crime drama and an alkost embarrassingly relatable character. I would definitely recommend it.

Sometimes interesting

Did The Talented Mr. Ripley inspire you to do anything?

Actually, it didn't. I like books that give me "hmmmmm" moments, and I didn't get many from this book. Mostly I just found it sad. I did listen to the whole thing, though, which I only do if I am enjoying the book again, but I was happy it ended. I had thought I would like it better. Loved the movie!

The movie is actually better

In this case of book versus movie, the movie is better. Maybe it’s just b/c Matt Damon does such a good job playing Tom Ripley.

Good story, not as riveting as the movie!

Being a huge fan of the movie (the Matt Damon version), I finally got around to reading the first in this series. This is the rare case , for me, where I thought the movie was actually quite a bit better than the book. The book, while good, is a bit dull at times and lacks the "spark" in the characters developed in the film. Tom does not seem quite as menacing, nor Dickie as charming. But it is a solid story all around that keeps you listening to the end. I thought the narrator was excellent, as well.

Beautiful Prose, Annoying Narrator

Highsmith is known for her wonderful command of the language and a creepy mind. Her sociopaths (Ripley, as well as Bruno from Strangers on a Train) could be characterized as asexual misogynists or repressed homosexuals, depending on your viewpoint. That they don't understand the nuances of male/female relationships enrages them and ultimately drives them to murder. Highsmith writes beautifully, and though Kenerly's narrative tone carries the appropriate sense of underlying malice, I was several times startled out of an emersion in the story by his mispronunciation of Italian and French words, and by the hard "g" that he gives to such words as "ring" and "long." If that weren't bad enough, he often turns statements into questions with a rising inflection at the end of a sentence.

Audible Delight

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

In the Audible.com's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" I have two pleasures united: the mundane but gripping Highsmith writing style and Kevin Kenerly's alluring performance of Highsmith's words. It's Kenerly's voice, much what I'd imagine Ripley would sound like, that has me buying the entire Ripley series. Bravo.