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The Boy Who Followed Ripley
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Plot Summary of The Boy Who Followed Ripley
"Tom Ripley, now a country gentleman living in France, befriends a young American runaway, and learns that the boy has a guilty consicence. This book is far more introspective than the first three Ripley books; we see Ripley's paternal side, his desire to set things right, as well as his comic flair. The humor that has always been lurking in the Ripley stories finally shows up in this one."
Lisa West, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Boy Who Followed Ripley
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - depressing/sad
Time/era of story: - 1960's-1970's
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Crime plotlets: - escape/rescue from kidnappers
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - wealthy
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Europe Yes
European country: - France - Germany
Forest? Yes
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 0 (not a murder mystery)
Unusual forms of death - dropped from large heights
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Boy Who Followed Ripley
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Stronghold by Stanley Ellin


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Patricia Highsmith Resident Scholar Profiles

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