»Der talentierte Mr. Ripley-
Ein Visual Essay«
This book deals with the detective novel »The Talented Mr Ripley« by US-American author Patricia Highsmith from 1955. The visual essay allows the viewer to immerse himself in Tom Ripley's psyche and gives an insight into the motif that led him to become a con artist, con man and double killer.
In some parts of the novel there are selected passages that allow an interpretation of Tom Ripley's mental state. These passages are underpinned by scientific evidence, which contains background information on various clinical pictures that the protagonist combines.
Furthermore, there are repeated illustrations that strongly dominate the design of the book. These illustrations represent the main character's bipolar disorder, which sets itself apart from all other mental illnesses of Tom Ripley. The letter "X" in this case describes the depression, the letter "O" embodies the mania. They express the extreme opposites of this disease, work with and against each other and, depending on the mood of Ripley, form new forms and combinations that are sometimes more or less dominant on the respective side.
In addition to the scientific text passages, this representation makes it possible for the viewer to grasp at a glance the protagonist's bipolar disturbance relevant to the course of history and at the same time draw conclusions about Tom Ripley's criminal motives.
Throughout history, these illustrations form a so-called "typographic code", which is summarized in a histogram at the end of the book. This allows the viewer to see the development of Ripley's bipolar disorder at a glance.
