The Talented Mr. Ripley (Audio CD)
| Date: 12 April 2011, 14:22
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Tom Ripley is a young man struggling to make a living in New York City with no prospects other than a talent to survive by being willing to do whatever is required. When approached by shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf to travel to Italy to persuade Greenleaf's errant son, Dickie, to return to the United States and join the family business, Ripley comes to see this as a rare open-ended opportunity.
Shortly after his arrival in Italy Ripley meets Greenleaf and his American girlfriend Marge Sherwood. Although Tom ingratiates himself with Dickie, Marge doesn't seem to like Ripley very much. Marge is in love with Dickie who is close with her but determinedly noncommital about a lasting relationship. As Tom and Dickie spend more time together Marge feels left out and begins insinuating to Dickie that Ripley is gay. Tom then surprises Dickie in his bedroom dressed up in Greenleaf's clothes and imitating his mannerisms. Dickie is upset, and from this moment on Tom senses that his wealthy friend has changed towards him, resenting his annoyingly constant presence and stultifying personal attachment.
Ripley's obsession with Greenleaf is further reinforced by his desire to imitate and maintain the wealthy lifestyle Greenleaf has afforded him.
As a gesture to Ripley, Greenleaf agrees to travel with him on a short holiday to San Remo. Increasingly unsettled by Dickie's apparent disgust, Tom finally decides to murder him. When the two set sail in a small rented boat, Ripley kills Greenleaf by beating him to death with an oar. He dumps Greenleaf's anchor-weighted body into the water and scuttles the boat.
Ripley assumes Dickie Greenleaf's identity, living off the latter's trust fund income and carefully providing communications to Marge to assure her that Greenleaf has dumped her. Freddie Miles, an old friend of Dickie's and from the same social set, comes across Tom at what he supposes to be Greenleaf's apartment in Rome. He soon suspects something is wrong. When Miles finally confronts him, Tom kills him with an ashtray. He later disposes of the body on the outskirts of Rome, attempting to make police believe that Miles has been murdered by robbers.
Tom's existence becomes a cat-and-mouse game with the Italian police with Ripley managing to keep himself safe by restoring his own identity and moving to Venice. In succession Marge, Greenleaf's father, and an American private detective confront Ripley, who suggests to them that Dickie was depressed and may have committed suicide. Marge stays for a while at Tom's rented house in Venice; when she discovers Dickie's rings in Tom's possession she seems to be on the verge of realising the truth. Panicking again, Tom contemplates murdering Marge - she is saved when she says that if Dickie gave his rings to Tom, then he probably meant to kill himself.
The story concludes with Ripley traveling to Greece and resigning himself to eventually getting caught. On arrival in Greece, however, he discovers that the Greenleaf family has accepted that Dickie is dead and that Ripley shall inherit his fortune according to a will forged by Ripley on Dickie's Olivetti typewriter. While the book ends with Ripley happily rich, it also suggests that he may forever be dogged by paranoia. In one of the final paragraphs, he nervously envisions a group of police officers waiting to arrest him, and Highsmith leaves her protagonist wondering, ".....was he going to see policemen waiting for him on every pier that he ever approached?"
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