Operation Shylock : A Confession (Vintage International) (Paperback)

by Philip Roth (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Philip Roth's very literary novels, most famously Portnoy's Complaint, have always had the feel of confessional autobiography. Operation Shylock boasts not only a character named Philip Roth, a Jewish-American novelist, but an impostor who is claiming to be him. Roth's impostor causes a furor in Israel by advocating "Diasporism," the polar opposite of Zionism, encouraging Israelis to return home to eastern Europe. In Israel the real Roth attends the trial of a former Nazi, and also observes at a West Bank military court dealing harshly with young Palestinians. Through stark counterpoint between distorted doubles, along with his trademark bawdy humor, Roth comically explores the tensions of his identity as a writer, as a Jew, and as a human being. Operation Shylock won the PEN/Faulkner Award for 1994.

From Publishers Weekly
Roth's brilliant, absurdist novel, set in Jerusalem during the trial of John Demjanjuk, follows the intersecting paths of two characters who share Roth's name and impersonate one another with dizzying speed.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679750290
• ISBN-13: 978-0679750291
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Me, me, me . . . , July 16, 2007

By	Middle-aged Professor (NY'er living in Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Shylock: A Confession (Paperback)

Roth is a narcissist with much to be narcissistic about. This book is an amazing combination of Roth's extraordinary writing ability and his obsessive naval gazing. Indeed, without obviously intending irony, he calls his "double" in the story--the "other" Phillip Roth-- Moishe Pippic, which translates as Moses Bellybutton. No phrase could better capture Roth's grandiose self-image and obsessive self-examination; one Phillip Roth wasn't enough to sate him, so he has two of them in the book. And yet you (or at least I) are reading it. The reader can just feel Roth saying, "Grandiose? You don't seem to have anything better to do with your time than read my self-exploration, so who are you to judge?"

This novel has a plot, which you've detected from other reviews, but that plot--while immensely clever--serves mostly as a very thin wafer on which Roth serves thick essays on Israel and jewishness from a variety of perspectives. We hear from arab intelligentsia, jewish "diasporists," Nazi war criminals, children of Nazi war criminals, holocaust survivors, Israeli secret agents and, most of all, two Phillip Roths looking in the mirror. Roth's conception of the thoughts and diatribes of all but the latter are beautifully written--angry and thought-provoking-- and make the book worthwhile if you are interested in that sort of thing, but not so interested that you will be upset by some of the frankly offensive views portrayed in some of their rants.

If you have not read Phillip Roth and want to "try" a Phillip Roth book, this is not the one to start with. The plot is too thin, the self-obsession too great, and the interesting bits too specialized. Instead, I would try American Pastoral (5 stars beyond doubt) or the classic Portnoy's Complaint.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so brilliant it's scary, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For patient readers, the payoff is profound, May 20, 2001

By A Customer

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.