My least favorite of the Ripley series... this book makes no sense to me in the canon. I think it should've been a stand-alone title with a main character of a different name. ( )

A gentle return to the soothing chaos that is Ripley's world. All the classic comforts of his idyllic wealthy life are still there: harp lessons, gardening, and a wife who loves him enough but not too much. Then even amidst the criminal activities that arise, we are treated to a travel interlude, a sojourn Hamburg and Berlin.

Ripley's sudden interest and participation in queer culture was a nice welcome. I prefer to read into it as personal growth on his part from the earlier books. Most of the psychological tension for me stemmed from Frank and his inevitable trajectory. At this point in the series, there's no critical reading on my part anymore. I don't ask how it why. I'm just here to be rocked gently to a pleasant lull. ( )

The fourth Ripley book, full of typical shenanigans but somehow not quite as dark as some of the previous installments. ( )

What a boring book! Highsmith uses half of the words describing every step the characters take to every place they go. A travel book would have been more entertaining. I slogged through the mire of this one because I wanted to see if it would get better, and have a decent ending. It didn't in either case. I don't think I'll read the last Ripley novel. This one was just too awful. ( )

It's gotten to the point for me where Highsmith 'can do no wrong' - meaning that I read each fresh bk in full expectation that she'll have thoughtfully explored the subject at hand in ways that avoid clichés & that show her ever-shifting skill as a crime fiction / psychological thriller writer. &, as usual, this bk is not a disappointment. I don't want this review to have too many 'spoilers' so I'll resist outlining the whole plot. Suffice it to say that where most mediocre writers wd end the bk on a particular type of climax Highsmith continues to forge on into the deeper territory at hand.

Highsmith takes a perverse pleasure in presenting her main character, Ripley, as more complex & multi-faceted than just yr ordinary 'bad guy'. He's an archetypal 'anti-hero' in that respect. Yes, he's capable of murdering people w/o much or any conscience.. but he's also an appreciator of the 'finer' things in life & he's capable of being very caring & very subtle & very non-judgmental. & these are the characteristics that Highsmith admires. But she also admires his ability to be decisive under difficult circumstances - even psychopathically so.

I don't know anything about Highsmith's personal life but she was probably bisexual - & many of her novels delve into bisexual, lesbian, & gay subcultures. Additionally, her novels tend to take place in sometimes radically different locales - in this case, part of it is in Berlin. Given that it was copyrighted in 1980, it's fun for me that Highsmith has the characters playing Lou Reed's "Transformer" record, a classic of gay/bisexual/transvestite rock, & that some important parts of the action center around dressing in drag & a gay disco. Highsmith wd've been in her late 50s when she wrote this & it's pretty obvious that she hadn't dulled her zest for life yet. ( )