The character originated in a series of novels by author Patricia Highsmith, who lived between 1921 and 1995 and was famed for her psychological thrillers.<\/p>\n
But, with fans diving into the new show, how can they read Highsmith\u2019s novels in order, and how many are there in the series to get through?<\/p>\n
Read on for everything you need to know about the novels behind the new Netflix series Ripley.<\/p>\n
How many novels are there in Patricia Highsmith\u2019s Ripley series?<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"Andrew]( "\\"Ripley\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in episode of Ripley.<\/span><\/figcaption> Stefano Cristiano Montesi\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nThere are five novels<\/strong> in the Ripley series in total, with the books being published over a period of 36 years \u2013 between 1955 and 1991.<\/p>\nThe first three of the novels have all been adapted on screen before, while the latter two haven\u2019t as of yet.<\/p>\n
Scott addressed the prospect of playing a character who has been portrayed by other actors a number of times before in Interview Magazine<\/a> in October 2021, saying: \u201cThere\u2019ve been various iterations of the character, some of which I\u2019ve seen and some of which I\u2019ve avoided. When you\u2019re playing those famous literary characters, you don\u2019t want to just copy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m interested in the idea of what queerness is, and otherness, because that\u2019s what I think it\u2019s about. The reason he\u2019s such an interesting character is you can\u2019t quite place him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Tom Ripley was in a gay bar, I\u2019m not sure that he would fit in there. Nor do I think he\u2019s a straight character. I think he\u2019s a queer character, in the sense that he\u2019s very \u2018other\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his relationship with sex, or death, or with family or friends? It\u2019s interesting that a character is the sum of the parts that you don\u2019t have to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
How can you read the Ripley novels in order?<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"Andrew]( "\\"Ripley.")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in Ripley.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nThe Ripley novels are best read in their release order, starting with the first book, The Talented Mr Ripley.<\/p>\n
You can read the novels in the following order:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The Talented Mr Ripley (1955)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ripley Under Ground (1970)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ripley\u2019s Game (1974)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ripley Under Water (1991)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The first three novels are available as a box set on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n- Read More: Ripley review: Saltburn fans, meet the original homoerotic con artist in handsome Netflix series<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How many of the novels does Ripley on Netflix adapt?<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"Andrew]( "\\"Ripley\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in Ripley.<\/span><\/figcaption> Lorenzo Sisti\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nThe new series adaptation of Highsmith\u2019s novels, Ripley, almost entirely sticks to adapting the first book in Highsmith\u2019s series \u2013 The Talented Mr Ripley<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThis isn\u2019t the first time that particular novel has been adapted \u2013 on the contrary, it has been adapted a number of times, including for the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley<\/a>, which starred Matt Damon in the title role.<\/p>\nThat said, there are inclusions from subsequent novels \u2013 including John Malkovich as Reeves Minot<\/a>.<\/p>\nShowrunner Steven Zaillian told Netflix: \u201cThe character doesn\u2019t appear until the second Ripley book, but I thought it would be interesting to meet him in this first story, and was delighted when John said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malkovich previously portrayed Ripley himself in the film adaptation of Ripley\u2019s Game.<\/p>
As to whether the series adapts more of Highsmith\u2019s novels in future remains to be seen. The series is currently listed on Netflix as a limited series, suggesting the first season will be one and done.<\/p>\n
However, there has been instances where this has changed after release before, so we could still hear that the show will be returning to adapt Ripley Under Ground and the rest of the novels in future.<\/p>\n
Ripley is available to stream on Netflix on now. Sign<\/a>\u00a0up for Netflix from \u00a34.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\nCheck out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\nTry Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Highsmith’s character, Tom Ripley, is played by Andrew Scott in the new Netflix series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48975,"template":"","categories":[6,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Highsmith's character, Tom Ripley, is played by Andrew Scott in the new Netflix series.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/RIPLEYSCM10303172202830R.jpgRIPLEYSCM10303172202830R-4c27eca.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Ripley\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>There are five novels<\/strong> in the Ripley series in total, with the books being published over a period of 36 years \u2013 between 1955 and 1991.<\/p>\n The first three of the novels have all been adapted on screen before, while the latter two haven\u2019t as of yet.<\/p>\n Scott addressed the prospect of playing a character who has been portrayed by other actors a number of times before in Interview Magazine<\/a> in October 2021, saying: \u201cThere\u2019ve been various iterations of the character, some of which I\u2019ve seen and some of which I\u2019ve avoided. When you\u2019re playing those famous literary characters, you don\u2019t want to just copy.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m interested in the idea of what queerness is, and otherness, because that\u2019s what I think it\u2019s about. The reason he\u2019s such an interesting character is you can\u2019t quite place him.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Tom Ripley was in a gay bar, I\u2019m not sure that he would fit in there. Nor do I think he\u2019s a straight character. I think he\u2019s a queer character, in the sense that he\u2019s very \u2018other\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s his relationship with sex, or death, or with family or friends? It\u2019s interesting that a character is the sum of the parts that you don\u2019t have to play.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ripley novels are best read in their release order, starting with the first book, The Talented Mr Ripley.<\/p>\n You can read the novels in the following order:<\/strong><\/p>\n The first three novels are available as a box set on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new series adaptation of Highsmith\u2019s novels, Ripley, almost entirely sticks to adapting the first book in Highsmith\u2019s series \u2013 The Talented Mr Ripley<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time that particular novel has been adapted \u2013 on the contrary, it has been adapted a number of times, including for the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley<\/a>, which starred Matt Damon in the title role.<\/p>\n That said, there are inclusions from subsequent novels \u2013 including John Malkovich as Reeves Minot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Showrunner Steven Zaillian told Netflix: \u201cThe character doesn\u2019t appear until the second Ripley book, but I thought it would be interesting to meet him in this first story, and was delighted when John said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Malkovich previously portrayed Ripley himself in the film adaptation of Ripley\u2019s Game.<\/p> As to whether the series adapts more of Highsmith\u2019s novels in future remains to be seen. The series is currently listed on Netflix as a limited series, suggesting the first season will be one and done.<\/p>\n However, there has been instances where this has changed after release before, so we could still hear that the show will be returning to adapt Ripley Under Ground and the rest of the novels in future.<\/p>\n Ripley is available to stream on Netflix on now. Sign<\/a>\u00a0up for Netflix from \u00a34.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Highsmith’s character, Tom Ripley, is played by Andrew Scott in the new Netflix series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48975,"template":"","categories":[6,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/04\/ripley-books-how-to-read-patricia-highsmiths-tom-ripley-novels-in-order-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Highsmith's character, Tom Ripley, is played by Andrew Scott in the new Netflix series.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How can you read the Ripley novels in order?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/RipleyBW2.3.1-bc57abf-e1706879463295.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"Ripley.")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n
\n
How many of the novels does Ripley on Netflix adapt?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/RIPLEYPA10711122101289R.jpgRIPLEYPA10711122101289R-9ac6552.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Ripley\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"