'25 May - theme: Was the Book or the Movie better?
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
I had so many choices of books to read which fit the bill this month but I am very happy I picked this one. Both the book and the movie are superb (insert Jeremy Clarkson's voice here please).
This was a perfectly average book length, and absolutely perfectly paced throughout. Ah the bliss of not having to drag oneself through a boring slow patch because there were none, interesting and readable from cover to cover. I've never read any Patricia Highsmith before but I will certainly be reading more in the future, she is an understatedly excellent writer.
I couldn't work out if I wanted Tom to succeed or fail but I think that is rather the point. He certainly kept me on the edge of my seat and even made my breath come fast in excitement at times.
The movie, directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, was also fantastic. It deviated from the book a little in plot and a lot in characterization of Marge and of Tom. Tom was made far more sympathetic and Marge much kinder, but I actually thought that served them pretty well. I think the more unlikeable aspects of both personality would have been tricky to work in the shortened form of a movie. You needed the introspection of Tom to pair with his sociopathic tendencies to make it work, and I think Minghella made the correct choice.
Fantastic book and movie. I will definitely be doing this theme again in the next few years.