Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
London : Vintage, 1999.
Description
An American art collector is claiming that the exspensive masterpiece he bought is a fake. He wants to meet with the artist - but Tom Ripley knows that the artist no longer exists. Ripley needs to hide his role in the fraud, and keep his colleague's mouth shut. But not everyone's nerves are as steady as his, especially when it comes to murder.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AlexAustin
Years ago, a fiend, I mean friend recommended Patricia Highsmith as a writer of black and wicked tales. Although I didn't realize it at the time, I had seen the film version of one of her books: Strangers on a Train, which I would have agreed was black and wicked. Several years later, I saw The
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Talented Mr. Ripley. I liked the film and I liked the character, but I came away thinking of Ripley more as a conventional con-artist. On a hunt through a used bookstore looking for Greene's Stamboul Train, unfound, I came across one Highsmith novel, Ripley Underground. I went for it. Now I understand the special category Highsmith is in. She has created an amoral hero who is simultaneously repellent and magnetic. Ripley is capable of anything, instinctively grasping escape as his foul deeds close in on him. Loyal and sympathetic, too. In this novel, Ripley is involved with forged paintings, a collector who is crying fraud, and a forger with soul-troubling misgivings. The plot gets wonderfully complicated as Ripley manipulates everyone on the scene, including death (by the way, I found a copy of Ripley Underground, not the Omnibus picture above, which was all that was available on Goodreads and Amazon). Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
3.5 stars
In this sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley, Tom Ripley is married and living in France. A few years back, he concocted a scheme where, although a painter had died, someone was rounded up to paint in that painter’s name, as if he was still alive and a recluse. There was a gallery in London
This pulled me in early on. There was a bit of a lull in the middle for me, but it picked up again at the end. It was good and I do plan to continue the series.
In this sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley, Tom Ripley is married and living in France. A few years back, he concocted a scheme where, although a painter had died, someone was rounded up to paint in that painter’s name, as if he was still alive and a recluse. There was a gallery in London
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that sold this painter’s paintings, there were art supplies and a school of art all in this (dead) painter’s name. But when an American suspects he has bought a forgery and wants to come to London to prove it, Tom must stop this from happening… This pulled me in early on. There was a bit of a lull in the middle for me, but it picked up again at the end. It was good and I do plan to continue the series.
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LibraryThing member la.grisette
Better than most of the dreck that comprises this genre. With the Talented Mr. Ripley, Highsmith proved that crime fiction can be elevated to the level of good literature. Ripley Underground is a unique, tightly plotted and elegantly written story, but it is not the masterpiece that the first book
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was. Ripley's aged, lost a lot of his youthful insecurity. He's a bit to confident and you don't quite have the sense of his soul hanging on the line, as in the first book, where his intense need to connect spiritually with other people led him to acts of physical violence. Here, his main motivation is to avoid prison and his more philosophical inner-monologues, while sort of interesting, are also sort of desultory and contrived. Show Less
LibraryThing member ConnieJo
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is probably one of my favorite novels of all time, so it's not at all surprising that I didn't like the sequel quite as much. It was still quite good though, better than most of the other stuff that I read by far, and also one of the better novels I've read by Highsmith.
I
But Ripley's skill in manipulating people and situations to his advantage is unmatched, and I adore Highsmith's eye for the way people and society function. Ripley has to pass himself off as a deceased artist, and also lie substantially about his activities over a certain stretch of time. He's almost caught by the police several times, and has more to lose in this book now that he has a wife and a good life. The tension is still there, and there is evidence that Ripley fails to cover up, but I still think I enjoyed it more in the first book.
But everything I've mentioned so far isn't really much of a criticism. Anyone who enjoyed the first book will more than likely enjoy this one too, it's just that the first one works a bit better. The situations and crimes in this one are also substantially different, so it's also not more of the same. Ripley's character is what makes both books for me, and his skills and charm are out in full force. He's a criminal that's easy to relate to, a common theme in Highsmith's work. You can sympathize with, or at least understand, everything he does, and the fact that he pulls everything off so successfully is what makes him such a likable character. I do love watching the man work, and will most definitely be reading the other three novels in the series.
I
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think the thing that made the first better than the sequel was the fact that Ripley wasn't a criminal going in, so we saw him commit the crimes throughout the course of the book with a fresh eye, and the opportunities also came up randomly and sporadically. In this one, he's trying to cover himself in regard to an art forgery scheme he had a small part in, so the crime is already there. The crimes he commits, aside from the general crimes of lying and impersonation, are also no secret when they come up, something else that set it apart from the first.But Ripley's skill in manipulating people and situations to his advantage is unmatched, and I adore Highsmith's eye for the way people and society function. Ripley has to pass himself off as a deceased artist, and also lie substantially about his activities over a certain stretch of time. He's almost caught by the police several times, and has more to lose in this book now that he has a wife and a good life. The tension is still there, and there is evidence that Ripley fails to cover up, but I still think I enjoyed it more in the first book.
But everything I've mentioned so far isn't really much of a criticism. Anyone who enjoyed the first book will more than likely enjoy this one too, it's just that the first one works a bit better. The situations and crimes in this one are also substantially different, so it's also not more of the same. Ripley's character is what makes both books for me, and his skills and charm are out in full force. He's a criminal that's easy to relate to, a common theme in Highsmith's work. You can sympathize with, or at least understand, everything he does, and the fact that he pulls everything off so successfully is what makes him such a likable character. I do love watching the man work, and will most definitely be reading the other three novels in the series.
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LibraryThing member nocto
I liked this one a lot more than the first Ripley book, found it a much smoother read plus I didn't have annoying film characters in my head - the words on the page are quite enough to bring the people to life for me. It's very vivid. Ripley, now married and living in France, is involved in a bit
I must read the third Ripley in quicker succession than I managed to read the first and second.
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of art fraud that spirals out of control. I must read the third Ripley in quicker succession than I managed to read the first and second.
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This is the sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I read and greatly appreciated on 16 June 2011. In ths volume Ripley six years after the prior book (which was publshed 15 years before this volume) is living an idyllic life in France but is involved in a criminal scheme involving forged
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paintings. Ripley again feels he must kill and has a horrendous time with the body. This part is exciting and tension-filled. But the plot is so convoluted and so unlikely to decieve police that the book fails. Never could the police be taken in by Ripley--and the denouement is not explained but apparenly the reader is supposed to believe the police accept Ripley's outlandish explanation--such a contrast to the believable denouement in The Talented M. Ripley. So the book , regretfully disappoint--I had hoped I would want to read more by the author. Show Less
LibraryThing member KatherineGregg
Tom Ripley reinvents himself but can't quite shake his somewhat shady reputation. The disappearance of Dickie Greenleaf and the murder of Freddie Miles loom in Ripley's not too distant past. Ripley's new in-laws (he now has a beautiful and wealthy French wife) have bought the young couple an estate
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in France. While his wife travels and shops, Tom gardens and participates in dubious business dealings such as art forgery in the case of Ripley Under Ground. Once again Ripley commits murder when people get his way. Despite being a cold blooded murdered,Tom Ripley is a likeable character and I find myself continuously wanting him to get away with his crimes. I enjoyed the book but not nearly as much as The Talented Mr. Ripley. Show Less
LibraryThing member albertgoldfain
A wonderful continuation of "The Talented Mr Ripley" and, since it primarily deals with a lifetime of art forgery, this novel is better positioned to make a point about the psychology of immitation. The pacing is very well crafted and calibrated.
LibraryThing member richardderus
Well, lightning don't strike twice, do it? The Talented Mr. Ripley was simply brilliant, a bolt of heaven-sent inspiration...and this sophomore effort, fifteen years in the making, feels like it's a response to requests for more Ripley, more Ripley, from his fans.
It's a fun book to read, don't get
I wonder if Highsmith thought this book was the equal of the first one...I recommend this as a delightful fall-fire-with-scotch read. Completists *must* read it. The squeamish should stay far away! The law-and-order types are herewith warned: You'll *hate* this book.
It's a fun book to read, don't get
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me wrong, but it's just...not...there if you know what I mean. Really good writing! Really nicely drawn story! Characters a little bit foreshortened, lacking in a depth that Marge and Dickie and even the tiresome Mr. Miles showed. And Ripley himself is a little more squeamish this time, which frankly made a lot of sense to me as Tom now has a wife and an art collection to defend against intruders like the forger, the copper, and the gallery owners.I wonder if Highsmith thought this book was the equal of the first one...I recommend this as a delightful fall-fire-with-scotch read. Completists *must* read it. The squeamish should stay far away! The law-and-order types are herewith warned: You'll *hate* this book.
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LibraryThing member amerynth
I couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed by Patricia Highsmith's second book in the Ripliad series. Mainly because I loved "The Talented Mr. Ripley" so much, that there was no where for "Ripley Underground" to go but down. If it weren't due to the comparison between the two books, I would
In this novel, the sociopath Tom Ripley is living a life of leisure in France with his wife while surreptitiously hanging around with spies and art forgers. When it comes time to cover up his crimes, he turns to murder once again.
What I loved so much about the prior book in the series is that Highsmith makes you root for Tom-- you almost hope he will get away with his crimes. In this book, it was the opposite, I was rooting for him to get caught.
Overall, a decent crime novel, but just not as brilliant as the original.
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give "Ripley Underground" a solid thumbs up. In this novel, the sociopath Tom Ripley is living a life of leisure in France with his wife while surreptitiously hanging around with spies and art forgers. When it comes time to cover up his crimes, he turns to murder once again.
What I loved so much about the prior book in the series is that Highsmith makes you root for Tom-- you almost hope he will get away with his crimes. In this book, it was the opposite, I was rooting for him to get caught.
Overall, a decent crime novel, but just not as brilliant as the original.
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LibraryThing member csweder
Throughout the first novel we have the suspense of not knowing if he will be caught by the police or not. In this sequel Ripely has an added person he wishes not to get caught with--his wife. At the start of the book she is visiting friends in Greece and he is called upon by friends he has made in
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a forgery deal to help them out of a jam. He does so...but only gets himself further into a hole. Very much like the first novel in this respect. Will he make it? Will he get caught? In a strange way, I felt attached to this character and wanted him to be safe and sound. Show Less
LibraryThing member Canadian_Down_Under
I read Ripley Down Under with high expectations after enjoying the first book in the Ripley series so much (The Talented Mr Ripley).
I thought that the story in the second book was much weaker and sometimes wandered aimlessly. I think Miss Highsmith wanted to continue the story of the brilliant
The book started off well enough but in the end there wasn't enough story there. Also, the character of Tom Ripley was not nearly as interesting. That can also be said of the supporting characters.
The writing was up to Miss Highsmith's usual high standard but I cannot say the book, as a whole, lived up to the standard I have come to expect from this author.
I thought that the story in the second book was much weaker and sometimes wandered aimlessly. I think Miss Highsmith wanted to continue the story of the brilliant
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character she had created but was unable to find a story as interesting to serve as a vehicle.The book started off well enough but in the end there wasn't enough story there. Also, the character of Tom Ripley was not nearly as interesting. That can also be said of the supporting characters.
The writing was up to Miss Highsmith's usual high standard but I cannot say the book, as a whole, lived up to the standard I have come to expect from this author.
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LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
Tom Ripley lives a life of ease at a country home, Belle Ombre, in France with his beautiful wife Heloise. Gardening, reading, painting at leisure. A little income from the art world, and inheritance from the past, along with his wife's income from her family. Life is good...until art forgery,
Tom is a silent partner with Jeff Constant and Ed Banbury in Derwatt Ltd., an art gallery in London. Business has been great, selling Derwatt paintings, but the question of forgery starts things roiling. A client is questioning the authenticity of a piece he owns. What makes this a problem is that it probably is...that is the dirty secret behind Derwatt Ltd. Tom invites the client to his home in France, to see the Derwatt works he owns and compare them. The client isn't satisfied and Tom has to take things into his own hands.
Shortly after this matter Chris Greenleaf arrives for a visit. This is a bit tight as he is the cousin to Dickie Greenleaf, the friend who left Tom the inheritance. There is a little shade about if Dickie really did commit suicide or was murdered and if the inheritance is legit. Also, there are some things on the property that bring to mind some not-so-good thought...like the fresh grave.
At the same time, Bernard shows up upset and rattled about the question of forgery. Bernard is an artist that is also involved in Derwatt Ltd. Tension builds.
This is of the psychological thriller genre. Tension runs throughout the book. How is Tom going to handle these various situations? Can he pull things off and not get tripped up by the French and English police who are looking into the client who went missing? The question of forgery? And the still question of the where the artist is?
Tightly written, it is not a book to just breeze through, but it is a good read.
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deception, and death enter the picture.Tom is a silent partner with Jeff Constant and Ed Banbury in Derwatt Ltd., an art gallery in London. Business has been great, selling Derwatt paintings, but the question of forgery starts things roiling. A client is questioning the authenticity of a piece he owns. What makes this a problem is that it probably is...that is the dirty secret behind Derwatt Ltd. Tom invites the client to his home in France, to see the Derwatt works he owns and compare them. The client isn't satisfied and Tom has to take things into his own hands.
Shortly after this matter Chris Greenleaf arrives for a visit. This is a bit tight as he is the cousin to Dickie Greenleaf, the friend who left Tom the inheritance. There is a little shade about if Dickie really did commit suicide or was murdered and if the inheritance is legit. Also, there are some things on the property that bring to mind some not-so-good thought...like the fresh grave.
At the same time, Bernard shows up upset and rattled about the question of forgery. Bernard is an artist that is also involved in Derwatt Ltd. Tension builds.
This is of the psychological thriller genre. Tension runs throughout the book. How is Tom going to handle these various situations? Can he pull things off and not get tripped up by the French and English police who are looking into the client who went missing? The question of forgery? And the still question of the where the artist is?
Tightly written, it is not a book to just breeze through, but it is a good read.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Digital audiobook performed by Kevin Kenerly
3***
This is book two in the series, featuring psychopath Tom Ripley. It’s six years after Tom murdered Dickie Greenleaf and inherited his money. He’s since married a pharmaceutical heiress and they live in a villa in France. Everything seems to be
Highsmith was a talented writer, and she could craft a chilling psychological thriller. In the first Ripley book we met a charming, somewhat socially inept, closeted gay young man with ambition. He was clever, quick-thinking, and determined to get rich. Lies came easily and murder even more so. If it served his purpose, he did it. But THIS Ripley is a drudge. The whole art forgery scheme is kinda amateurish, and I didn’t see it has having the “Ripley stamp.” Beyond having originally set up the con, why is he even still involved? He doesn’t paint the forgeries, and he’s not exactly making a fortune off the scheme. But it seems he just can’t help himself; he has to lie and cheat and steal and kill because he just doesn’t know how else to act. As the bodies pile up and investigators get closer to the truth, Ripley’s ability to charm his way out of things is taxed to the max. He seems to be completely unraveling, and yet …
The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, which is one of my pet peeves. But I suspect Highsmith just ran out of steam and decided to stop.
Kevin Kenerly does a pretty good job of voicing the audiobook. He made the various characters sufficiently unique so I could easily tell who was speaking. Too bad he didn’t have better material to work with.
3***
This is book two in the series, featuring psychopath Tom Ripley. It’s six years after Tom murdered Dickie Greenleaf and inherited his money. He’s since married a pharmaceutical heiress and they live in a villa in France. Everything seems to be
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going swimmingly, until Tom gets a call from London. An art forgery scheme he set up a few years ago is threatened by a nosy American asking questions. Highsmith was a talented writer, and she could craft a chilling psychological thriller. In the first Ripley book we met a charming, somewhat socially inept, closeted gay young man with ambition. He was clever, quick-thinking, and determined to get rich. Lies came easily and murder even more so. If it served his purpose, he did it. But THIS Ripley is a drudge. The whole art forgery scheme is kinda amateurish, and I didn’t see it has having the “Ripley stamp.” Beyond having originally set up the con, why is he even still involved? He doesn’t paint the forgeries, and he’s not exactly making a fortune off the scheme. But it seems he just can’t help himself; he has to lie and cheat and steal and kill because he just doesn’t know how else to act. As the bodies pile up and investigators get closer to the truth, Ripley’s ability to charm his way out of things is taxed to the max. He seems to be completely unraveling, and yet …
The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, which is one of my pet peeves. But I suspect Highsmith just ran out of steam and decided to stop.
Kevin Kenerly does a pretty good job of voicing the audiobook. He made the various characters sufficiently unique so I could easily tell who was speaking. Too bad he didn’t have better material to work with.
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LibraryThing member LARA335
In this second Ripley novel Tom is married ( rather surprisingly), and living a moneyed existence in France. Part of his wealth comes from his involvement with art forgeries, involving him in audacious impersonations, and doing away with those who threaten to expose him.
Slightly darker than the
Slightly darker than the
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brilliantly original first novel in the series, but still very readable and fun to follow Ripley wriggling free from his adversaries. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
The second of the Ripley novels is set six years after the events of "The Talented Mr Ripley".
Ripley is living in a small town near Paris with his French wife, when one of his past scams comes back to haunt him. The painter Derwatt committed suicide in Greece several years ago, and his body was
Ripley seems to have a charmed life. However clumsily he clears up after his murders and however suspicious the police (among others) might be, he always gets away with it, although I'm not entirely sure how.
Ripley is living in a small town near Paris with his French wife, when one of his past scams comes back to haunt him. The painter Derwatt committed suicide in Greece several years ago, and his body was
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never found, so Ripley suggested to his friends that they should forge his work and carry on selling it through their gallery, while claiming that the artist is living as a recluse in Mexico. Ripley has been receiving a 10% cut of the profits, but now an American collector is claiming that the painting he bought from their gallery is a forgery and his partners in crime ask Ripley to help them to extricate themselves from the mess they have suddenly found themselves in.Ripley seems to have a charmed life. However clumsily he clears up after his murders and however suspicious the police (among others) might be, he always gets away with it, although I'm not entirely sure how.
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
“Honestly, I don't understand why people get so worked up about a little murder!”
This is the sequel of 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and picks up Tom's life six years later. He's in his early 30s, married and living in a grand villa outside of Paris paid for by his wife's family money. Tom spends
However, Tom is also involved in a lucrative scam selling forged paintings. When an American threatens to expose the scam Tom decides to take matters into his own hands to resolve the situation. Initially by persuasion but when that fails murder.
Anyone who has read the first book will not be surprised to hear that there is a death in this book also so I'm not giving too much away by saying so. In fact there are two. There is a certain black comedy to the first death or perhaps more accurately as to how Tom goes about disposing with the body that is in stark contrast with what he does with the second one. In contrast with the first victim the second body Tom actually wants to be found but how he deals with it is pretty gruesome.
As with the first book Highsmith goes to great effort to show the two sides of Ripley's personality. On one hand he is a likeable, personable if self-indulgent young man who only murders out of necessity because someone has made the mistake of threatening his freedom but he also has a very dark, sinister side to it. There is a stark difference between his urbane exterior to the darkness that lurks within. He is undoubtedly a socio-path with numerous twists and turns to his personality.
One of the pleasures of these books is to see what lengths Tom will go to to outwit the law. Also the author wants to illuminate the perceived dark deaths that lurk beneath the thin surface of civilization. However, unlike in the first book I really struggled to see any redeeming sides to Tom's character finding him shallow and self-obsessed. He is certainly no highly educated and engaging Hannibal Lector . This in turn meant that whilst I found this an OK swift read it was nothing more than that.
This is the sequel of 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and picks up Tom's life six years later. He's in his early 30s, married and living in a grand villa outside of Paris paid for by his wife's family money. Tom spends
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his time pottering about, gardening, painting and improving his French. This is the life that he believes he was born for and deserves. However, Tom is also involved in a lucrative scam selling forged paintings. When an American threatens to expose the scam Tom decides to take matters into his own hands to resolve the situation. Initially by persuasion but when that fails murder.
Anyone who has read the first book will not be surprised to hear that there is a death in this book also so I'm not giving too much away by saying so. In fact there are two. There is a certain black comedy to the first death or perhaps more accurately as to how Tom goes about disposing with the body that is in stark contrast with what he does with the second one. In contrast with the first victim the second body Tom actually wants to be found but how he deals with it is pretty gruesome.
As with the first book Highsmith goes to great effort to show the two sides of Ripley's personality. On one hand he is a likeable, personable if self-indulgent young man who only murders out of necessity because someone has made the mistake of threatening his freedom but he also has a very dark, sinister side to it. There is a stark difference between his urbane exterior to the darkness that lurks within. He is undoubtedly a socio-path with numerous twists and turns to his personality.
One of the pleasures of these books is to see what lengths Tom will go to to outwit the law. Also the author wants to illuminate the perceived dark deaths that lurk beneath the thin surface of civilization. However, unlike in the first book I really struggled to see any redeeming sides to Tom's character finding him shallow and self-obsessed. He is certainly no highly educated and engaging Hannibal Lector . This in turn meant that whilst I found this an OK swift read it was nothing more than that.
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LibraryThing member jklugman
Patricia Highsmith's antihero lives in some kind of villa in rural France with a beautiful French wife, engages in various smuggling and art forgery activities, reluctantly kills a person who was going to expose him, and worries about another person in his art forgery ring who is going to pieces.
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Oh, and he connects with a relative of a guy he killed in the prior novel. It is a compulsively readable novel, but for a novel about an American sociopath living abroad, it does not seem to have much to say about anything. It eventually gets bogged down in the mechanics of covering up murder. Show Less
Awards
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 1971)
Language
Original publication date
1970
Physical description
263 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
0099283581 / 9780099283584