The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955)Read about the other books on the list.
The 1999 Anthony Minghella film has nothing on Patricia Highsmith's crime classic The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which sociopath Tom Ripley meets his dream man and steals his life. Though Highsmith wrote openly about same-sex relationships in the very excellent 1952 The Price of Salt, here she only hints at the many ways in which Ripley is drawn to Dickie Greenleaf, as envy and desire curdle into jealousy and violence. Highsmith's atmospheric prose makes you feel the warm Italian sun, the coldness of Ripley's unwavering stare, and the glee of a criminal getting away with his crime — but for how long?
The Talented Mr Ripley is on Sophia Bennett's top ten list of books set in the Mediterranean, Emma Straub's top ten list of holidays in fiction, E. Lockhart's list of favorite suspense novels, Sally O'Reilly's top ten list of novels inspired by Shakespeare, Walter Kirn's top six list of books on deception, Stephen May's top ten list of impostors in fiction, Simon Mason's top ten list of chilling fictional crimes, Melissa Albert's list of eight books to change a villain, Koren Zailckas's list of eleven of literature's more evil characters, Alex Berenson's five best list of books about Americans abroad John Mullan's list of ten of the best examples of rowing in literature, Tana French's top ten maverick mysteries list, the Guardian's list of the 50 best summer reads ever, the Telegraph's ultimate reading list, and Francesca Simon's top ten list of antiheroes.
--Marshal Zeringue
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