Ripley's Game: Amazon.ca: Patricia Highsmith: Books

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Product Description

Connoisseur of art, harpsichord aficionado, gardener extraordinaire, and genius of improvisational murder, the inimitable Tom Ripley finds his complacency shaken when he is scorned at a posh gala. While an ordinary psychopath might repay the insult with some mild act of retribution, what Ripley has in mind is far more subtle, and infinitely more sinister. A social slight doesn't warrant murder of course-- just a chain of events that may lead to it. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Patricia Highsmith (1921 – 1995) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in New York. She was educated at the Julia Richmond High School in Manhattan and then at Columbia University, where she earned her B.A. in 1942. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train (1950), tells the story of a tennis player and a psychotic who meet on a train and agree to swap murders. The terrifying tale caught the attention of director Alfred Hitchcock, who, with Raymond Chandler, filmed it in 1951. Both the book and the resulting movie are considered to be classics of the crime genre. Highsmith’s subsequent novels, particularly five featuring the dashing forger/murderer Tom Ripley, have been vastly popular and critically acclaimed. In 1957 Highsmith won the coveted French Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere and in 1964 was awarded the Silver Dagger by the British Crime Writers Association. A reclusive person, Highsmith spent much of her life alone. She moved permanently to Europe in 1963 and spent her final years in an isolated house near Locarno on the Swiss-Italian border. Upon her death, Highsmith left three million dollars of her estate to Yaddo, the artist community in upstate New York. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, but still thrilling, Jun 15 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Ripley's Game (Paperback)

I like this book very much. It's a very good written novel by Particia Highsmith. The story is about some murder that a Jonathan Travanny, a man with a blood disease, has to do. A man called Reeves gave the order. First Trevanny does the job alone, but by the following murders Ripley helps him. Ripley and Trevanny almost become friends, but Trevanny's wife doesn't like Ripley and she doesn't know that her husband is a murderer. But in fact Jonathan Trevanny did the job only to earn some money for his wife and his son Georges because he is fatally ill and does not expect to live much longer. At the end Trevanny dies because he is hit by a bullet from a Mafioso.
The sentences are very easy, and there aren't a lot of difficult words. I liked to read this book, because there was always a certain tension.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, Jun 15 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Ripley's Game (Paperback)

I think that book is a great thing to spend your leisure time for. The content and the structure of the detective story is well done. Now and then your have to reflect what the action is for but on the whole it is a very interesting and exciting book. Even the text is comprehensible for people using English as a second language.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The talented Mrs. Highsmith, April 3 2004

By	Alysson Oliveira "Alysson Oliveira" (Sao Paulo-- Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ripley's Game (Paperback)

For some reason Tom Ripley is back. One of the most famous anti-hero in the policial literature is back to kill and play his game one more time. But Tom Ripley doesn't like to kill. But we, readers, are always willing to read his next adventure.

Having his own moral and ghosts, Ripley is one of the most fascinating characters created in the 20 Century. He is so peculiar, and nuanced that many writers tried to copy him, or even invent someone similar, but none works. After all, there was only one Patricia Highsmith, a master of thrillers.

There was such a tie linking her to her creation that it is hard to tell where one finishes and the other begins. Both are very cultured, smart, with good taste. But I don't believe she's ever killed anyone --on the other hand, Ripley did. Not because he likes doing that, much the contrary. But it is like a snowball, and he ends up forced to take charge of the situation and someone gets brutally murdered. That's how his life is, since his debut in "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

Back again in "Ripley's Game" the character is forced to get involved in a crime. One more time he is forced to face all the moral and personal dilemmas of killing another human being. At this time, he's set in Italy leading an extravagant life, but not bothering people, until someone needs his help.

As one of the most complex and well-developed characters in the noir literature, Ripley does not disappoint his fans. He is ready to show all his knowledge and also his skills to eliminate someone. And with her talent, Patricia Highsmith, one more time, makes us fall for the 'villain'. In the hands of a less talented author, Ripley would be a pretentious mad man, that we would love to see caught by the police. But with Highsmith's skills we love him, and can imagine him being caught.

"Ripley's Game" is the third book in the serie. And since the character was introduced in the first novel --The Talented Mr. Ripley-- Highsmith does not beat around the bush. The novel begins in the full swing introducing a new character that will be almost as important as Ripley, and this new man will force Ripley get back in action.

It is advisable to read "The Talented Mr. Ripley", before Ripley's game so that the reader will know who he is and what he's been through.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A light, satisfying read
I have to admit, I liked the original "The Talented Mr. Ripley" more, but this was still a fascinating book at what motivates people to commit murder. Read more

Published on April 8 2003 by Tanja L. Edwards

3.0 out of 5 stars Has Ripley gotten bored?
Tom Ripley is always motivated by something. In The Talented Mr. Ripley it was greed, jealousy, and the realization that his European vacation might have to end. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2002 by E. A Grosvenor

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting as usual...
Patricia Highsmith's character Tom Ripley is one of the most interesting to follow. His growth from one novel to the next is fascinating and every time you think he's going one... Read more

Published on Dec 12 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars also made into a great film by Wim Wenders
I had no idea when I saw the German film "The American Friend" dir. by Wim Wenders (with Dennis Hopper), that it was based on this book by Highsmith. Read more