Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 - February 4, 1995) was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers. She acquired world renown for Strangers on a Train, which has been adapted to the screen a number of times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951, and for her Ripliad series of books on the character of Thomas Ripley.

Novels

The protagonists in Highsmith's novels defy the accepted model in detective fiction of the tough-talking but honest hero, featured in the works of authors such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler; the heroes in many of her novels are either morally compromised by circumstance or actively flouting the law. Many of her antiheros commit murder coldbloodedly, in fits of passion, or simply to extricate themselves from a bad situation. They are seldom brought to justice, a concept that does not seem to exist in her writing.

Related Topics:
Protagonist - Dashiell Hammett - Raymond Chandler - Antihero - Murder

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Her recurring character Tom Ripley, an amoral, sexually ambiguous thief and occasional murderer, was first introduced in 1955's The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was filmed by René Clément in 1960 as Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), starring Alain Delon, whom Highsmith praised as the ideal actor to portray Ripley. It was also adapted under its original title as a 1999 film by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett. A later Ripley novel, Ripley's Game, inspired Wim Wenders' 1977 film The American Friend (which Highsmith disliked) and was filmed again in 2002 under its original title, starring John Malkovich and directed by Liliana Cavani. Ripley was featured in a total of five novels, known to fans as the Ripliad, written between 1955 and 1991.

Related Topics:
Tom Ripley - 1955 - The Talented Mr. Ripley - René Clément - 1960 - Plein Soleil - Alain Delon - 1999 - Anthony Minghella - Matt Damon - Gwyneth Paltrow - Jude Law - Cate Blanchett - Ripley's Game - Wim Wenders - 1977 - The American Friend - 2002 - John Malkovich - Ripliad - 1991

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Highsmith died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland, in 1995. Her last novel "Small g: A summer idyll", was published posthumously a month later.

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