The Talented Mr. Ripley

⚖The case for it

Watch how easily Tom slips into a life that was never meant for him, and how coolly Highsmith stays at his shoulder while he does it. The novel does turn technical in its back half, a stretch of paperwork and close calls, and you have to take the odds Highsmith hands you. What she was after was colder than a clean plot anyway. The suspense keeps working on your nerves the whole way, and you set the novel down carrying a small, unpleasant thrill you never agreed to feel.

— the honest librarian

✕The case against

Halfway in, the novel becomes logistics: forged signatures, bank letters, hotel registers, Italian police who would need to be asleep to miss what they miss. Highsmith asks you to grant Tom improbable luck at every checkpoint. Marge exists to be condescended to, and the ending simply deflates, resolving with an ease the book hasn't earned.

— the honest librarian