Customer Reviews

Operation Shylock: A Confession

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While some of the Zuckerman novels, like The Counterlife, focus on ambiguities of identity, Operation Shylock carries its subject to a whole new level. Philip Roth meets Philip Roth in a story that, despite the end disclaimer (and a possible disclaimer's disclaimer, "This confession is false"), may have happened. Even at the end there's no way to be certain.

Actually, this may have been Roth's "last gasp" in the humor department, judging by his last few books, but if so, it's perhaps the funniest of them all. Some of the situations here are so absurd, the dialogue so hilarious, that one wonders what Roth could've done as a syndicated humor columnist. As it is, Roth manages to concoct scenes that are simultaneously profound, moving, and hilarious.

The best scenes, though, are the soul-searching ones, especially the remarkable trial scene in which the Roth character (or whatever) delves into his own thoughts, then into the thoughts of those around him, in a mesmerizing way. Roth is an enormously talented writer, and his ability to depict the mind of someone (or himself) is simply remarkable.

In his last few books Roth has let loose with his prose, and reading Operation Shylock is like watching a piano or violin virtuoso who is so good s/he seems to transcend us mere mortals. His ability to weave long, complex sentences that don't become obscure for a second is something few other writers in the English language have ever matched. Should've won the Pullitzer.

Philip Roth is fast becoming one of my favorite living writers, and Operation Shylock was a major reason why. Having read American Pastoral, Portnoy's Complaint, and the Human Stain previously, for me Operation Shylock was the most haunting of his novels. It does seem unfortunate that readers have failed to grasp the crux of the novel, which is identity dislocation, and instead read the novel baldly and I am tempted to address some of the criticism found here directly, but will instead speak directly to my thoughts on the novel. If met on its own terms, this novel is both powerful and complex.
Philip Roth is often accused of disloyalty. He has been called a self-hating Jew, an anti-liberal, amongst other accusations, usually by groups or people who believe he is the voice of their cause. This historical context underlies the psychological conundrum of Operation Shylock in which Roth plays fast and loose with his own public persona as a writer, thinker, and Jew. He beginsthe story with an account of psychological severance that leads into a cat and mouse, noir-ish chase through Israel after his other "self". Far from self-promotion, he uses the gravitas of his writerly image as another example of disclocation- showing that the "real" him is as far from the other "self" as from his "public" self. He dives into the murky waters of Racial identity (his-jewish), present-past continuity of self, and the ideological (does and idea define a person?).
The versimilitude of the novel allows Roth the ability to dissect his own identity very publicly. Though he sometimes lampoons and satrizes his critics (even Dante did that!), in reality, the book delves much deeper and gives a much more probing exploration to these issues than are typically covered in the NYTimes bestseller/oprah book club style books. This is real literature that will outlast and transcend most other contemporary fiction.

So read and enjoy. You're in for a challenging, entertaining, and thought-provoking ride.

Exploring every conceivable aspect of identity -- of the self, and of the state of Israel -- this novel is a tour de force. I couldn't find Roth's "The Human Stain" after hearing an NPR review, so I picked up "Operation Shylock" instead; it's my first reading of Roth. I'd agree with others' descriptions of some slow or complex passages, but over time I came to view these as almost purposely placed: Roth toying with his own medium as he dances across the fiction/non-fiction line. Comparing this novel with other recent semi-autobiographical works -- like Paul Theroux's "My Other Life" -- I found "Operation Shylock" stayed with me longer and addressed deeper themes. Possibly not the best _introduction_ to Roth, "Operation Shylock" is still extremely funny and extremely intelligent, with an ending that sent me reeling.

Philip Roth's novel "Operation Shylock" presents a two-sided controversial discussion about the justification of the existence of the state of Israel. The protagonist is Roth himself, who has just overcome a period of Halcion-induced depression and is preparing to fly to Israel on a journalistic assignment to interview a Holocaust-surviving author. Coinciding with this event is the trial of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian American citizen extradited to Israel, who is alleged to have been a sadistic SS guard branded Ivan the Terrible at the Treblinka death camp during World War II.

Just before making his trip, Roth hears that somebody in Israel is using his name to promote a new Diaspora, imploring the Ashkenazi Jews to return to Europe to reclaim their cultural heritage. Once in Israel, it's not long before he encounters his impersonator after attending a session of Demjanjuk's trial. The impersonator tells Roth that he is a private detective from Chicago and that he runs a counseling service to "cure" anti-Semites, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous in its purpose. Accompanying him in Israel is his girlfriend and a former anti-Semite, a confused American woman with a checkered past, who was his nurse when he was a cancer patient.

Roth's impersonator sees himself as the influential equal and ideological opposite of Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism. He advocates Diasporism because he fears that the state of Israel is perceived by the world as Jewish tyranny over Arabs and will lead to a second Holocaust. How the real Roth reacts to this premise develops the rest of the novel, which, as the title implies, shapes itself into a subtle spy story. Some interesting supporting characters are introduced to contribute to the debate and clever plot devices are employed for intrigue.

Amazing.... Philip Roth has pulled off the unthinkable. He writes a book with no ending and he gets away with it. He not only gets away with it, he does it with style. Boring at times, brilliant at others, this book works to a nerve racking frenzy, and then Roth cuts us loose. It's almost as if he gets writer's block right before the last chapter! But that remains the beauty of this work. The use of "fact or fiction ?" is what guides us through to the end only to take a twist that will send you silly. Highly effective.....that is if you can get through the lecture-like portions. If only this book was trimmed by about 75 pages or so. It's dragging portions is what drags my rating down to three stars

Roth is the undefeated (probably undefeatable) champion of literary experimentation, and Operation Shylock is perhaps his most successful, most outrageous experiment to date. The author-as-character, fact-as-fiction-as-fact motif has been done before, but rarely with such skill and never with such hilarious results. It's part international espionage, part political commentary, part cultural exposition, part farce, and all parody; Roth's egotistical, though often self-depracating voice keeps the story chugging powerfully along. Par usual, Roth's greatest zinger of all is saved for the last few pages. I would award Shylock five stars, if it were not for the fact that I simply can't (and never have been able to) get used to his hyperbolic style--all the ranting and raving and melodrama can occasionally be tiresome. But one doesn't normally read Roth for his elegant prose; one reads him for his ingenuity, his outrageousness, and his courage. And in this regard, Shylock certainly will not disappoint.

I loved this book! Perhaps, I award it five stars because I "read" the audio version. I imagine it could be a tedious read. However, I listened to Operation Shylock while commuting to work--I shivered at its brilliance, gasped aloud each time I reached my destination and had to turn it off. As one whose profession it is to sort through the psychological complexities of neurosis, psychosis, the shifting perceptions and altered realities of the mentally ill, I found the minds of the twin Philip Roth's as facinating as any patient I've ever had the honor to follow into the dark abyss of self-doubt, creativity, confusion, and triumph. This is one of those rare books I will read again.

Operation Shylock is the ultimate modern absurdist novel, a big messy canvas of ideas, neuroses, recriminations, self-doubt, and moral play. It works as an end result of an immense bout of creativity from an author who most likely had been pondering its larger themes throughout his life and, within the bare-bones storyline of the book, finally able to channel all his feelings out. The protagonist here is Philip Roth himself, and we follow him during a chaotic period of time during a trip to Jerusalem. He is being followed by a Diasporist with a striking resemblance to him, and who uses the likeness to piggyback off Roth's fame to give his motivations (the exodus of Jews from Israel and back into Poland) credence with the Palestinians. Roth himself is ambivalent about such a radical thought, and in his quest to get away from the impostor goes down a crazy road of identity (real and fake) and Israeli adventure.

The book is essentially a treatise of ideas and feelings, an insane inner dialogue that Roth is having with himself. The great majority of the time it is incredible reading. Even during the parts where you cannot empathize or connect with what he is saying, there is always his consummate skill as a writer to keep you engaged and impressed. There are a few sections here and there which are rather dry, and the summary makes for quite dense reading, but even these are not imposing enough to take away from the overall strength of the piece. This is one of Roth's masterworks, but I strongly encourage new Roth readers to try one of his countless easier works for their introduction to him.

What makes Roth so special? While so many other aging writers resort to rehashing older themes, descend into old fogey sentimentality, or simply fade away altogether, Roth only gets stronger. Stronger and more assured in his style and stronger in the subjects he tackles. "Operation Shylock" finds Roth once again challenging the reader's perceptions about fiction and non-fiction. The challenge lies in not letting the distinction distract you from the brilliant story that unfolds. Roth is on top of his game in every respect, from the cat and mouse games of the various "Philip Roths" to the wonderfully varied supporting cast of characters. Roth's narration, like Zuckerman's in recent years, is an orgy of hilarious speculation and theorizing...trying to work out every possible thread of a situation, the processes of a hyperactive mind laid out before the reader. If you don't like it, then you don't like it, and you probably don't like Roth. If you haven't read him before, and the basic plot interests you, this may be a good place to start. "American Pastoral" was great, "The Human Stain" even better, but I feel "Operation Shylock" ranks with "The Counterlife" as his best work. Very highly recommended.

I normally don't feel comfortable evaulating fiction because I simply haven't read enough of the classics to have a good handle on it (although I do like reading these Amazon reader reviews and find them helpful).

I decided in the past year to read most of the NY Times best fiction of the past 25 years ("Beloved", the Rabbit novels, McCarthy, DeLillo...see [deleted by Amazon...]). For me, this one is the very best of that group.

Roth's writing is just super crisp and hits the sweet spot of a good story with some action but also evokes lots of major themes. In some sense it is almost too bad that Roth writes so much about Jewish issues and growing up in Newark NJ in his novels, in that those cast a big shadow over the artistry of the writing. Don't let the Jewish themes in this book distract you from the great writing. Israel is actually the perfect template to raise these issues of duality in life and in the world. Operation Shylock is a rare work of fiction that seems to build up throughout the book and doesn't start off too great, remain bland, or only have good patches (ie, DeLillo Underworld's beginning, Updike's predictability, or Beloved's good patches). If you can only read one book on that NY Times list, I would recommend this one.