Patricia Highsmith has always been one of my favorite novelists. I count more than 12-15 of her books on my shelves: novels, short-story collections, biographies. I began with her novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, maybe forty years ago. I can’t remember if I read it in college or after, but it just may be the novel that turned me over from a part-time, casual reader, to a full-time, serious literature lover. The Talented Mr. (Tom) Ripley character who I’m talking about was pretty much the same age as my students are now. He was a cute kid. At age 19, he knew how to paint minature portraits – like the size of a postage stamp - and play classical piano. He considered himself an artist. He also knew how to forge checks and impersonate people with money; I suppose you could call him a con artist.
From the beginning of the story, we learn that his parents had drowned in the Boston Harbour when he was very young, and he was forced to grow up with an abusive aunt. She treated him as a burden. She had no interest in his dreams or ambitions; rather, she called him a “sissy.” She saw nothing but failure in his future. On several occasions, Tom ran away from home, but was always tracked down and brought back to his angry Aunt Dottie. He grows up with a chip on his shoulder. Great! Patricia’s Highsmith’s writing drew me deep and quick into the novel. I believe Tom felt cheated from an early age, and from his humble beginnings, he developed relentless ambition to be somebody. What’s wrong with that?
The problem comes midway through the novel, when Tom bludgeoned two of his friends with heavy objects: one with the bad end of a rowboat oar; and the other with the base of a marble ashtray. From these events, a sudden darkness rose out of his character. For each friend he killed, he found he would have to kill another to cover his trail. At the time I first read this novel, I was probably too naïve to recognize Tom for who he was. I saw him as a “dreamer.” If I said I was sorry that I feared or disliked this guy, I would be lying. I actually found myself rooting for him. Now forty years later, I recognize him as a psychopath. Not only will he do anything to reach his dreams, he will kill anyone who gets in his way.
How Dark and Violent is Tom Ripley? I've read everything that Patricia H. has written with "Ripley" in the title. I'm HOOKED. What does that say about ME?
I bring up Tom Ripley, because reading him, has prepared me appreciate Strangers on a Train. The novel starts with a chance meeting between two strangers on a train. These two characters are in their twenties, like just out of college; they both appear relatively handsome. One might be a LITTLE GAY. He’s reading Plato by himself in his compartment. His name is Guy. He is a budding architect. The other guy is VERY gay. We can tell that by the green silk tie he wears. It’s painted with bright orange palm trees. OK, that doesn’t mean he’s gay, but that’s gay enough. His name is Charles Anthony Bruno. When Guy accidentally touches Bruno’s foot with his own, Bruno's face lights up in drunken stupor. Instead of showing any sign of anxiety or embarassment, Bruno seems overly-attracted to Guy's presence in his compartment on the train. Bruno wants to know more about Guy. He asks him what he does and if he's married. Guy doesn't seem too reluctant to reveal his past. He wants more than anything to divorce the slut he is married too. He wants to move on. Bruno's stepfather has ruined his life. This is when Bruno tells Guy he hates women. He recognizes the type of woman Guy is married, probably more than Guy does. Moreover, Bruno hates his father. He wishes he were dead.
WAIT! Bruno has an idea: Why can't they do a Murder Swap. You know, like a Wife Swap. I’ll kill yours, and then you kill mine. No one will suspect the murderer. I mean they don’t have any prior connection. Ugh. Bruno is a sleaze bag. He’s the last guy you would want to get drunk with on a train. It’s clear he obsesses with Guy from the moment their feet touch. But what’s that say about Guy? It says a lot. Guy is a brilliant professional with the brightest of futures ahead of him. How could someone like that get involved with a crazy-ass murder scheme. He has the chance to distance himself from Bruno. But he doesn’t. That’s gay.
Here is the COOL PART about returning to my shelves after forty years for my reading selections. This year, I have made the goal to read FIFTY books. That’s one a week. I go back and forth from somehting old on my shelves to something new I purchase online. I feel I’m reading Patricia H with a new set of eyes. It never occurred to me that Tom Ripley may have been homosexual, and if I knew that then, I certainly would never have raised by hand in class with anything to contribute. I missed all the signs. I LIKED and ADMIRED Tom for his AMBITION. I didn’t recognize he may have killed another man for romantic reasons. I followed Tom to the end, for his ability to go forward, no matter what the cost. The same thing goes for Guy and Bruno in Strangers on a Train. Not for one moment did I think of Bruno in the pursuit of ROMANCE with the stranger he meets on a train. Rather, he was CAPTIVATED by Guy’s story. He wanted to be PART of IT. Murder was his best entry point.
Patricia H doesn't take long to put the plan in action. I mean one of her books I have on my shelf is titled
"He sunk his fingers deeper, enduring the distatesful pressuore of her body under his, so her writhing would not get them both up. Her throat felt hotter and fatter. Stop, stop, Stop! He willed it." Man, I probably thought the same thing Guy did about this guy, like he was a DRUNK and a GASBAG. Nothing to take seriously. But what Guy and I missed is that alcohol is just part of the problem. CLEARLY BRUNO HATES WOMEN. More importantly, BRUNO LOVES MURDER.
I’m not writing a book report here, but I will take a moment to appreciate Patricia H’s writing. Not much of anything I’ve read combines a psychological tension with her biting sense of humor. Jaja! Patricia H was a closet lesbian. This was during the fifties when homosexuality was outlawed in many states. She was also a hardcore drinker. Aparently she did little to hide that part of her personality. Clearly she intimately knows her characters and their idiosyncrasies. When Guy first heard Bruno’s idea for a murder swap, he LAUGHED. I mean, come on, this guy was WASTED. He would never see him again. As soon as he got off the train, that would be the end of it. WRONG! That was only the beginning of their very complex relationship.Do you know this word “doppelgänger”? I picked up on it from my reading of other Patricia Highsmith novels. This author is always bringing together two men who appear to have genuine contempt for each other, but their animosity doesn’t drive them apart – it draws them closer together. What they always hated about themselves, they recognize in each other.
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