Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Vintage (1994), Edition: Edition Unstated, 400 pages
Description
What if a look-alike stranger stole your name, usurped your biography, and went about the world pretending to be you? In his extraordinary new book, his most ingenious and original work since Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth confronts his double, an impostor whose self-appointed task is to lead the Jews out of Israel and back to Europe, a Moses in reverse and a monstrous nemesis to the "real" Philip Roth. Suspenseful, hilarious, hugely impassioned, pulsing with intelligence and narrative energy, Operation Shylock is at once a spy story, a political thriller, a meditation on identity, and a confession. This master novelist has never been more demonically brilliant than in the re-creation of his frightening and mysterious journey through the volatile Middle East. Operation Shylock is Philip Roth's twentieth published book - and perhaps his very best.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member rdaneel
Amazing. Deals with questions of identity, mainly Jewish identity. The prose races by, though in the hands of some other writer it would probably plod. Quite funny in places. The characters, I think, are not meant to be sympathetic. I didn't really like any one in the book. Yet I could barely put
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it down. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
Operation Shylock is the story of Philip Roth traveling to Israel to meet his doppelganger, who is posing as the author and promoting Diasporism - that Jews should abandon Israel as an outdated idea and re-establish themselves elsewhere. The real Roth, of course, finds himself mixed up in this
The book is pretty dense at times in politics and religion, so a background in both would be useful, but even without it Operation Shylock is a good and thought-provoking read.
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agenda, and the book explores the connection between the Jewish identity and the land of Israel, and where exactly a Jew's place in the world *is.* There are no answers offered, only these questions.The book is pretty dense at times in politics and religion, so a background in both would be useful, but even without it Operation Shylock is a good and thought-provoking read.
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LibraryThing member lriley
An excellent work by an excellent writer. I can say more. Roth confronts his double in the Jewish homeland of Israel using the Demjanjuk nazi war crimes trial to discourse on the state of Israel--from both pro and con viewpoints and also on the Jewish diaspora. After his impersonator has made noise
One of the most humorous of Roth's works. I'm not sure any other American writer could pull this off with the same elan. Maybe Nathan Englander. It moves along nice and easy from beginning to end with hardly a hitch. There's nothing at all to complain about in terms of ambition, plot, execution or language. For a 400 page work--everything is essential--there is no wastage. For someone who has never read Philip Roth--this would be a good one to begin with.
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in Israel suggesting a return of European jews to their European roots in effect saving them either from 1) being overrun and exterminated in a second holocaust or 2) being part of a country that has lost all moral credibility having saved itself from annihilation by going nuclear against its enemies the real Roth is reluctantly drawn over to Jerusalem to confront his double. Many twists and turns abound--his being manipulated by an old Palestinian friend from his college days in Chicago and by agents from the Mossad. Having a short time before these events been a victim of a bad prescription that led nearly to a mental breakdown Philip is feeling more than a little fragile, confused and paranoid. Confrontations with ideologues of all stripes including his double--a dead ringer cancer patient and former private detective with a drop dead gorgeous former anti-semite girlfriend abound between disertations on the politics and enmities of the region. Roth strives to maintain reality with some shred of objectivity.One of the most humorous of Roth's works. I'm not sure any other American writer could pull this off with the same elan. Maybe Nathan Englander. It moves along nice and easy from beginning to end with hardly a hitch. There's nothing at all to complain about in terms of ambition, plot, execution or language. For a 400 page work--everything is essential--there is no wastage. For someone who has never read Philip Roth--this would be a good one to begin with.
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LibraryThing member zip_000
It is interesting to note the drastic slow down in my reading; this book - which I would have read in 3-4 days tops a few years ago - took me over 3 weeks. I blame having an 8 month old and having a Wii.
Review Proper:
I first read Roth in a short story class in college - only about 7 or 8 years ago,
All of that is to say that I really enjoy Roth's books. I enjoyed this one no less than the others. This one is fairly similar in style to his later books, but it has all of the identity muddling of his middle period. You're left with the question of, "who is Roth the author and who is Roth the character?"
It is tempting to speculate whether any of the story may have actually happened, but I don't think that that is a fruitful avenue.
The thing that I really love about his writing is that it is really writing about writing. The supposedly amputated last chapter is a good example.
This has been a fairly poor review. Reading really good writing like Roth's makes me painfully aware of my own very poor writing ability.
Review Proper:
I first read Roth in a short story class in college - only about 7 or 8 years ago,
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and while I enjoyed the story that I read, I didn't follow up on it. In 2005 I came across one of his books in a book store, recognized the name, and bought it. In the 3 years since, I've read all but one or two of his books. In actuality, in 2005-2006 I read all but a few of his books, and then decided to slow down and save the rest for later.All of that is to say that I really enjoy Roth's books. I enjoyed this one no less than the others. This one is fairly similar in style to his later books, but it has all of the identity muddling of his middle period. You're left with the question of, "who is Roth the author and who is Roth the character?"
It is tempting to speculate whether any of the story may have actually happened, but I don't think that that is a fruitful avenue.
The thing that I really love about his writing is that it is really writing about writing. The supposedly amputated last chapter is a good example.
This has been a fairly poor review. Reading really good writing like Roth's makes me painfully aware of my own very poor writing ability.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosareads
Philip Roth's writing is brilliant. His tongue-in-cheek humor about a major issue in the Middle East and the world is amazing. He finds a way to present all sides of a significant argument in a fascinating novel.
LibraryThing member petercal94
This was my introduction to Philip Roth. It's been a while since I read it but I remember being impressed by the writing and clever story construction.
LibraryThing member agnesmack
Philip Roth is the only author I can forgive for 6 page long paragraphs. As my friend Rachel recently said, "He makes language his b*tch," and that is certainly true in Operation Shylock: A Confession.
On the surface, this book is about a fake Philip Roth, running around Jerusalem, speaking to the
The real story is that of the conflict between Zionists and those who believe in diaspora. And no, I didn't really know much about either of those terms before reading this book. Of the dozen or so Roth novels I've read, this is definitely one of the least accessible, and while I did enjoy it immensely, it was much more academic than many of his novels.
This novel taught me things, and it was a shining example of Roth's abilities, but in the end it lacked the heart I need to really get immersed in a novel.
On the surface, this book is about a fake Philip Roth, running around Jerusalem, speaking to the
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press, giving lectures, and otherwise living off the fame of the real Philip Roth. The book though, like all of Roth's, is of course about much more than that.The real story is that of the conflict between Zionists and those who believe in diaspora. And no, I didn't really know much about either of those terms before reading this book. Of the dozen or so Roth novels I've read, this is definitely one of the least accessible, and while I did enjoy it immensely, it was much more academic than many of his novels.
This novel taught me things, and it was a shining example of Roth's abilities, but in the end it lacked the heart I need to really get immersed in a novel.
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LibraryThing member stevesmits
What, really, is one's identity? Is it singular and constant, owned and known by ourselves alone? Or, is it varying, multiple and contradictory, shifting according memory, circumstances, time, events, other's influences on our lives? Roth, in this fascinating, complex "novel" (is it?), poses many
He begins the story with his experience with "madness", a period of extreme mental disorder brought on, it's finally determined, by a sleeping pill that produced psychosis in some. (This apparently actually happened to him.) Clearly, his identity as a prolific writer, one of America's most renowned and brilliant authors, is utterly altered during this time; he is a different person. As he recovers, he learns that another man claiming to be "Philip Roth" is in Israel gaining attention in the press by espousing a new diasporism for the Jews -- that they should leave Israel and return to Europe, their homeland for many centuries. This doppelganger "Philip Roth" so closely resembles the real Roth in appearance that he fools even those who personally know Roth. The motive behind his plan is that the future portends the destruction, yet again, of the Jewish people, either by their hostile Arab neighbors or by their use of the atomic bomb in defense, which would destroy their moral standing in the world.
The real Roth vacillates between ignoring the imposter or strongly confronting him to playing along with the farce of this outrageous impersonation. He encounters George Ziad, a Palestinian, a friend from many years ago at university, who, in contrast to his former worldly perspective and broad views, is completely obsessed with the injustice of the Israeli occupation of his homeland. Roth gives to Ziad and others the impression that it is indeed he who is advocating this scheme of emigration. (Including a humorous riff on how an American Jew (Irving Berlin) with beautiful subtly destroyed Christian conceptions of the divinity and sanctity of Christ.)
A parallel motif in the story is the trial in an Israeli court of John Demjanjuk, aka "Ivan the Terrible", who is charged with being the monstrous camp guard who sadistically put many Jews to death in the gas chamber. Demjanjuk, too, has another identity, that of a naturalized American citizen, a auto factory worker from Cleveland who led a typical American life. Questions of his real identity, is he the horrendous Ivan or the banal John, the auto worker?, surround the proceedings.
Then there's the identity of the Jewish people themselves and, by extension, the Jewish state. Has the identity of the Holocaust survivors been so completely transformed by their experience that they no longer bear any resemblance to who they once were? If they have a new identity (and how could they not?) what are we to make of it? Roth opines harshly on the personna of "victimhood" that the Jews and the state of Israel portray and use in a self-righteous and cynical fashion to perpetuate their political and national hegemony over the Palestinians and validate the legitimacy of their claims to statehood. Are they as "occupiers" of Palestine mirroring, even if much less viciously and vilely, the position of their former tyrants?
Of course, no one in the story is who or what he seems on the surface. The phony Roth has a different real life, or is his revelation about his true identity false? He is a cancer-doomed zealot who is using his resemblance to Roth as a means to satisfy his life-sustaining needs. Rpth's Arab friend, despite his overt and fervid hatred of the Israeli's might or might not be their collaborator; while he suggests he is a confidant of high authorities in the PLO, he perhaps is in the service of the Mossad. Smilesburger, at first an aging caricature of a Jewish immigrant to America now returned to Israel, is really a powerful operative of the Mossad. Ziad works to enlist Roth to meet in Athens with a group of Jews who are ostensibly secretly funding the PLO, a contact that will bring about a meeting with Arafat, which the PLO can then exploit for publicity purposes. Roth resists, but Smilesburger urges him to go to this meeting as a spy for the Israeli's to enable the Massoud to counter their financial ties with the PLO. By the end of the book, Smilesburger is attempting to persuade Roth to excise from his book the details of the Athens encounter as it is inimical to the interests of Israel. Roth does so, but leaves the impression that this "confession" is based on true events, not a work of fiction.
Along the way through the story Roth expounds deeply into the manifestations of anti-Semitism that existed and continue. He writes, as the leading American novelist on matters of Jewish sensibility, of ideas and perspectives that no other contemporary author can put forth with more intensity.
Many critics have put Operation Shylock, along with American Pastoral and The Human Stain, as among the finest works of 20th century American literature. It's hard to disagree.
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questions about the malleability and uncertainty of identity, whether one's own, of those we encounter or of a people.He begins the story with his experience with "madness", a period of extreme mental disorder brought on, it's finally determined, by a sleeping pill that produced psychosis in some. (This apparently actually happened to him.) Clearly, his identity as a prolific writer, one of America's most renowned and brilliant authors, is utterly altered during this time; he is a different person. As he recovers, he learns that another man claiming to be "Philip Roth" is in Israel gaining attention in the press by espousing a new diasporism for the Jews -- that they should leave Israel and return to Europe, their homeland for many centuries. This doppelganger "Philip Roth" so closely resembles the real Roth in appearance that he fools even those who personally know Roth. The motive behind his plan is that the future portends the destruction, yet again, of the Jewish people, either by their hostile Arab neighbors or by their use of the atomic bomb in defense, which would destroy their moral standing in the world.
The real Roth vacillates between ignoring the imposter or strongly confronting him to playing along with the farce of this outrageous impersonation. He encounters George Ziad, a Palestinian, a friend from many years ago at university, who, in contrast to his former worldly perspective and broad views, is completely obsessed with the injustice of the Israeli occupation of his homeland. Roth gives to Ziad and others the impression that it is indeed he who is advocating this scheme of emigration. (Including a humorous riff on how an American Jew (Irving Berlin) with beautiful subtly destroyed Christian conceptions of the divinity and sanctity of Christ.)
A parallel motif in the story is the trial in an Israeli court of John Demjanjuk, aka "Ivan the Terrible", who is charged with being the monstrous camp guard who sadistically put many Jews to death in the gas chamber. Demjanjuk, too, has another identity, that of a naturalized American citizen, a auto factory worker from Cleveland who led a typical American life. Questions of his real identity, is he the horrendous Ivan or the banal John, the auto worker?, surround the proceedings.
Then there's the identity of the Jewish people themselves and, by extension, the Jewish state. Has the identity of the Holocaust survivors been so completely transformed by their experience that they no longer bear any resemblance to who they once were? If they have a new identity (and how could they not?) what are we to make of it? Roth opines harshly on the personna of "victimhood" that the Jews and the state of Israel portray and use in a self-righteous and cynical fashion to perpetuate their political and national hegemony over the Palestinians and validate the legitimacy of their claims to statehood. Are they as "occupiers" of Palestine mirroring, even if much less viciously and vilely, the position of their former tyrants?
Of course, no one in the story is who or what he seems on the surface. The phony Roth has a different real life, or is his revelation about his true identity false? He is a cancer-doomed zealot who is using his resemblance to Roth as a means to satisfy his life-sustaining needs. Rpth's Arab friend, despite his overt and fervid hatred of the Israeli's might or might not be their collaborator; while he suggests he is a confidant of high authorities in the PLO, he perhaps is in the service of the Mossad. Smilesburger, at first an aging caricature of a Jewish immigrant to America now returned to Israel, is really a powerful operative of the Mossad. Ziad works to enlist Roth to meet in Athens with a group of Jews who are ostensibly secretly funding the PLO, a contact that will bring about a meeting with Arafat, which the PLO can then exploit for publicity purposes. Roth resists, but Smilesburger urges him to go to this meeting as a spy for the Israeli's to enable the Massoud to counter their financial ties with the PLO. By the end of the book, Smilesburger is attempting to persuade Roth to excise from his book the details of the Athens encounter as it is inimical to the interests of Israel. Roth does so, but leaves the impression that this "confession" is based on true events, not a work of fiction.
Along the way through the story Roth expounds deeply into the manifestations of anti-Semitism that existed and continue. He writes, as the leading American novelist on matters of Jewish sensibility, of ideas and perspectives that no other contemporary author can put forth with more intensity.
Many critics have put Operation Shylock, along with American Pastoral and The Human Stain, as among the finest works of 20th century American literature. It's hard to disagree.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Didn't really do it for me. The premise was fairly interesting, but way too verbose.
LibraryThing member benjaminsiegel
Hilarious and troubling and has aged exceptionally well.
Subjects
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1994)
PEN/Faulkner Award (Finalist — 1994)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1993
Physical description
400 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
9780679750291