I think Highsmith (and noir-ish fiction in general) tells
more of an
internal than an external story. As an example of relying on
an external
story, I plowed through John Lutz' Buyer Beware this
afternoon. The book
moved fast, the plot was interesting, but the only thing that
really
seemed to take place in the P.I.'s head was that he'd tell us
every couple
pages that he was a Very Nervous Sort who had to take
antacid. The
external story contradicted even this small element of an
internal story,
though. The P.I. never seemed to DO anything that an
abnormally anxious
person would do. For me, at least, Ripley's story is largely
internal and
the genuine charm of Highsmith's work is in getting inside
Ripley's head
and being Ripley. It's particularly amusing that the person I
(and maybe
a few others) become while reading Ripley is a homosexual(?)
murderer.
Occasionally (and it's kind of like fingernails on the chalk
board when it
happens), Highsmith threatens the suspension of disbelief to
advance the
plot. I recall Tom's realization that he was "good" at
pretending to be
other people was particularly jarring. I also recall a few of
his narrow
escapes from his pursuers as being a bit far-fetched.
I'd guess that, if you can't identify with and root for
Ripley and forgive
Highsmith her occasional outlandish manipulations, this book
might be an
excrutiating read. I had something of that feeling when I
read Vin
Packer's noir novel Something in the Shadows. In this book, a
morose
Ph.D. starts murdering people he believes may have harmed his
cat.
Identifying with this fellow was a bit of a stretch even for
me.
Being an avid noir reader, I particularly enjoyed Talented
Mr. Ripley's
ending. In all the noir novels I had read prior to Ripley,
the lead
character finally succeeds in effecting his or her own self
destruction.
In that light, the ending of Talented Mr. Ripley had me
chuckling for
days.
Greg
swan@poboxes.com
michael david sharp
>
> OK, this underestimation of Highmith is getting on my
nerves somehow,
> though you all are of course absolutely entitled to
your opinions and I am
> only, after all, one man. I teach Ripley next week. I
am rereading it
> right now and find the writing stunning on just about
every page. I will
> step back, reflect, and try to mount a brief but
spirited defense of
> Highsmith sometime next week. Right now what I will
say is that I find
> Ripley, at least initially, utterly sympathetic, esp.
for a compulsive
> liar and unrepentent misanthrope. What is it about
the 1950s and
> sympathetic psychos: Ripley, Lou Ford, Humbert
Humbert . . . more later.
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
> Michael D. Sharp Email: msharp@umich.edu
> Department of English Lang. and Lit. Phone: (313)
761-8776
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Fax: (313)
763-3128
>
> On Sat, 21 Feb 1998, Bill Hagen wrote:
>
> > Recently, Roger Dowdy echoed some others when he
wrote,
> > "It was a real struggle to get through,
especially the first half (I
> > threatened to stop altogether on several
occasions). It just didn't move
> > quickly enough for me and I found I really
didn't care about the
> > characters, who Tom was going to kill next or if
he got caught at all."
> >
> > I understand, even share some of this feeling.
There is a kind of "drift"
> > to this character, and the plot, that is
underwhelming, espec. for all of
> > us who like "the game" or a character impelled
to act. TR doesn't seem to
> > know who he is, or what will come. When his New
York friends leave the
> > ocean liner, and he starts to compose himself,
it seems to be a sort of
> > defining moment. But what is defined? That he
can, so to speak, assume a
> > new guise. Later, when he lists his talents for
Dickie, significant among
> > them are forgery and impersonation--both of
which figure later. He also
> > shows he can be impulsive and then clever in
covering.
> >
> > But, here I'm stopped: What is Ripley in this
novel? At present, halfway
> > through, I have an elementary interest in how he
will continue his
> > impersonation and overcome problems, but I'm
still not sure what enjoyment
> > he derives from life, what really keeps him
going. When he assumes his
> > impersonation, it's a repeat of the moment of
the ocean liner--it's another
> > "clean slate." So he can clean himself blank
regularly? What kind of
> > character is he? Proteus? There doesn't seem to
be much to hold on to....
> >
> > Bill Hagen
> > <billha@ionet.net>
> >
> >
> > #
> > # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
> > # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.
> >
>
> #
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.
>
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.