My man has an astonishing ability. He can seriously cover the breadth of the Jewish relationship with Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the diaspora from nearly every angle in a single book. It's truly remarkable how comprehensively he delves into these complex and multi-faceted topics.

However, it's rather wild that despite his in-depth exploration of such significant and wide-ranging themes, his women characters are still one dimensional. It seems almost paradoxical that in a work that展现such depth and breadth in other areas, the female characters lack the same level of complexity and development.

This contrast between the detailed treatment of the broader subject matter and the relatively simplistic portrayal of the women is quite striking and leaves one wondering why there is such a disparity. It makes one question whether more could have been done to give the women in his work more depth and nuance, to make them more fully realized and engaging characters.

Overall, while his book is impressive in many ways, the one-dimensional nature of his women is a notable shortcoming that detracts somewhat from the overall quality of the work.

This wasn't bad.

However, I just didn't get as wrapped up in it as I did with other Roth novels.

Roth is always good, no doubt about that.

His writing is engaging and his stories often have depth and complexity.

But this particular one just didn't strike me as his best.

Maybe it was the plot that didn't quite grip me as tightly.

Or perhaps the characters didn't resonate with me as strongly as those in his other works.

Nevertheless, it's still a decent read and I'm sure there are many who will enjoy it.

But for me, it just didn't measure up to the high standards that Roth has set with his previous novels.

I'll still be looking forward to his future works, hoping to be completely enthralled once again.

A Rothologist's Collector's Item



Just when I thought I had perused the most extraordinary of books penned by Philip Roth, another one stumbles upon my literary path. This particular work was crafted during a time when Roth was grappling with the aftermath of a nervous breakdown. He had been taking the drug Halcion for pain management, which had plunged him into a state of paranoia, a perilous condition for a novelist who already delved into the recesses of the mind.



In this book, fact and fiction blend seamlessly. Roth employs his own name for the protagonist and details his visit to Israel to interview Aron Apelfeld, a Holocaust survivor. While in Israel, he also attends the trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being Ivan the Terrible during WWII. The fictional element lies in the existence of a doppelganger in Israel claiming to be Philip Roth and inciting support for another Jewish diaspora, this time a migration out of Israel and back to Europe, where the memory of the Holocaust still lingers. The reasoning is that the Israelis face the threat of extermination by their Arab neighbors, but Europe would never allow a second Holocaust to occur.



Everyone in this book is not who they seem to be. The two Roths constantly switch roles; is Damjanjuk really Ivan the Terrible? Is Smilesburger a seller of antiquarian books or a Mossad agent? The book is filled with long stretches of dialogue where the pros and cons of Diaspora versus Settlement are debated ad infinitum. Roth and his doppelganger represent the diaspora, while Apelfeld supports settlement. In between, Roth is gifted the diaries of Leon Klinghoffer, the victim of the Achile Lauro hijacking, and we are treated to a travelogue of Israel. The Palestinian perspective is presented by Roth's old university friend, George, who is constantly spouting anti-Israeli comments and dubs himself a "word-throwing Arab, not a stone-throwing one." And of course, no Roth book is complete without the theme of sex. This is provided by Jinx Posseski, the fake Roth's nurse, who has relations with both the original and the double, and even continues to make love to the latter after his death.



The twist in the book comes in the last chapter, which is deliberately omitted. Ostensibly, it describes a "task" that Roth performs for the Mossad that he wants to include in the book, but they wish to keep it out. Roth, the dedicated novelist, is committed to his art and despises censorship. In his words: "The writer redefined the permissible. That was the responsibility. Nothing need hide itself in fiction." However, the consequence of crossing the Mossad is not death for Roth but the harsher sentence of loshon hora—evil speak—that could potentially destroy his literary career. And so, we are left with another twist that, in Roth's words, leaves the plot "the story is frivolously plotted, over-plotted, too freakishly plotted, with outlandish events so wildly careening around every corner that there is nowhere for intelligence to establish a foothold and develop a perspective."



Despite the plot inconsistencies, the prose in this book is at its most fluent, and Roth's manic expression is palpable, understandable given his addled mental state due to Halcion. I pondered why Roth wrote this book, aside from maintaining his regular output demanded by his publisher, regardless of his illness. I entertained the idea that perhaps it was his attempt to atone for his previous works that some might have considered Jew-bashing by showing himself undertaking work for the Mossad. But since the missing final chapter holds the key, we truly wonder whether that assignment, which is the title of this book, is also a work of fiction.



Given the numerous platitudes about Roth as an imminent novelist and political influencer that are scattered throughout the book, I couldn't help but wonder if this novel was Roth's own self-congratulatory pat on the back. In George's words, "Philip, you are a Jewish prophet and you always have been. You are a Jewish seer." Smilesburger, on the other hand, has a less flattering view and describes Roth as "one who has made his fortune as a leading Jewologist of international literature."



Overall, this book is a valuable addition to the library of an ardent Rothologist, such as myself. It offers a fascinating glimpse into Roth's mind during a tumultuous period of his life and showcases his unique blend of fact and fiction, as well as his mastery of the written word.

When Kinky Friedman pens a detective novel where the central character, the detective himself, is a humorist and musical performer named Kinky Friedman, we are crystal clear that the book's narrative isn't truly autobiographical. However, the situation is quite different when Philip Roth writes a novel that claims to be a non-fiction memoir by Philip Roth.

The recent PBS homage led me to revisit this author whose books I once admired, like American Pastoral (a 20th-century reimagining of the Book of Job) and Indignation. Operation Shylock, published in 1993, turns out to be a muddled book. Roth takes us through a subjective hall of mirrors, constantly turning wheels in his mind about what is reality and what might be just anxiety-driven, overheated speculation. Of course, the confusion between reality and pseudo-reality has been a literary theme for centuries, from Don Quixote to Scooby Doo. But perhaps no literary character has been as深陷于困惑 as Philip Roth, the protagonist of this book.

Roth brings Jung's concept of the shadow to life in the form of a pseudo-Philip Roth who is going around pretending to be him. This other Roth, whom our Philip eventually names Moishe Pipik, has gained attention by promoting his own invented movement, Diasporism, which advocates for Ashkenazi Jews in Israel to emigrate and return to Europe. The pseudo-Roth argues that Europe, now ashamed of and mostly purged of its past anti-Semitism, can offer Jews a safer environment than Israel, where an Intifadah is raging and the long-term prospects for Jewish survival are dim.

The protagonist Roth is furious about this impersonation and, since he was already planning a trip to Israel to interview his friend Aharon Applefeld, he rushes off to confront his doppelganger. Unexpectedly, he hears a lot from the imposter. As a result, the character Roth becomes increasingly confused about the justification of his support for Israel. In Israel, Roth attends parts of the trial of John Demjanjuk, which further intensifies the historical arguments and his confusion. The book also features a love triangle involving the true Roth, the faux Roth, and Jinx Possedski.

The book has two main flaws. Firstly, the political and historical arguments are overly reminiscent of late-night college dorm discussions. Secondly, the ratio of internal, subjective expressions of speculation and confusion by Roth the character, along with the speechifying of other characters, to actual action is much too high. Nevertheless, Roth's ingenuity is evident, lighting up parts of the book with clever arguments about Jewish identity. He also offers vibrant passages expressing his love for being Jewish. Inspired by Jung and clearly channeling John Le Carré, Operation Shylock is Roth's take on a Le Carré novel. It's no surprise that Roth has written admiringly of this celebrated British spy novelist.

Despite having read Operation Shylock: A Confession many years ago, I can easily recall having thoroughly relished this remarkable novel. It is a work that combines autobiographical elements with a confessional tone, making it truly engaging.

Philip Roth presents the reader with a supreme narrative that is rich in satirical humor and provocation. The plot intricately weaves the idea of the author and his double, adding an extra layer of complexity. Although it may not be an easy read and is likely to be controversial, it compels the reader to think deeply. For me, the effort invested in reading this book was more than worthwhile.

Let Phillip Roth speak for himself, if only briefly. He says, “Look, I've got more personalities than I can use already. All you are is one too many.” This statement gives us a glimpse into the author's mind and the multiple facets of his identity.

He also remarks, “Better for real things to be uncontrollable, better for one's life to be undecipherable and intellectually impenetrable than to attempt to make casual sense of what is unknown with a fantasy that is mad.” This thought-provoking quote makes us question our need to understand everything and the limitations of our knowledge.

Just one more of his profound statements: “Where everything is words, you'd think I'd have some mastery and know my way around, but all this churning hatred, each man a verbal firing squad, immeasurable suspicions, a flood of mocking, angry talk, all of life a vicious debate, conversations in which there is nothing that cannot be said...no, I'd be better off in the jungle, I thought, where a roar's a roar and no one is hard put to miss its meaning.” This passage highlights the power and chaos of words in our lives and the longing for simplicity and clarity.

Meh.

The premise of the story initially seemed rather interesting. It was about Philip Roth's double traveling around the world, blabbering on about things that Roth himself doesn't believe in, thereby causing confusion in the world regarding Roth's true intentions.

However, as the story progressed, it became evident that it was just SO long and overly exaggerated. The excessive length made it a bit of a chore to get through, and the overdone nature of the plot detracted from what could have been a more engaging and thought-provoking narrative.

Perhaps if the author had been more concise and toned down the extravagance, the story might have had a better chance of captivating the reader from start to finish. As it stands, it leaves the reader with a sense of disappointment and a feeling that the potential of the interesting premise was not fully realized.

Operación Jaja

Philip Roth is my favorite writer, among other things, because of novels like this one. By "novels like this," I mean a novel with many levels of reading, which includes even the very act of writing, of telling, of personal history mixed with great history (and if we're talking about Israel and the Jews, we're talking about the central fact of the 20th century: the Holocaust), all with very crazy, very funny moments. Some moments made me laugh out loud, while others made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I didn't know if I was facing a hallucination or the genius of the chapter-epilogue.

I don't know if it's up to the five stars, like the other ones I liked so much from him, such as the American Trilogy, Sabbath's Theater or Portnoy, but I do believe that it has moments that I will never forget and a very crazy plot. While reading it, I thought of Tim Whatley, that character from Seinfeld who had decided to convert to Judaism because of the jokes and it didn't offend Jerry as a Jew but as a comedian. Well, during the reading I felt like converting to Judaism to better understand Philip Roth. In this book especially, it seems to me that he is settling scores with his co-religionists, and if in Sabbath's Theater the joke was that his epitaph on the tombstone said "he did nothing for Israel," here, well... one has to read between the lines that last chapter.

I very much regret having taken 2 months to read these 400 pages. The distraction doesn't help to stay in the atmosphere that the work proposes. All because of the damned change of habits. The change of my workplace took away the train and subway trips that gave me an hour and a half of guaranteed daily reading. Read Philip Roth, I recommend it to you. Especially now that the possibility of him being the next Nobel laureate has been definitively closed.

To be perfectly honest, I did not finish this book.

I can't think of the last time I've quit on a book halfway through. It's just that I really could not do it.

I thought Portnoy's Complaint was one of the funniest books ever, so I was excited to read another Philip Roth book. However, I really could not get into this one.

In fairness, I felt like it was shoving a bunch of big philosophical questions about Zionism in my face. At that moment, I couldn't escape such questions on social media either. So maybe I just picked a bad time to read it.

But I don't think I'm going to give it another chance, though.

I understand that Philip Roth is a great writer, and maybe this book has its own charm and value. But for me, at this time, it just didn't click.

Maybe in the future, when my mindset and circumstances change, I will be able to appreciate this book better. But for now, I'm going to move on to other books and see what they have to offer.

Philip Roth, I came to the realization, doesn't truly write novels in the traditional sense.

He seems to be writing a single novel, repeating it over and over and over again. He then attaches a concise and catchy name to it, publishes it as part of a trilogy, and garners scholastic acclaim from those who either don't bother to read his novels beyond the synopsis or who have read so many novels of the exact same ilk that they fail to notice he has once again republished what is essentially the same book.

Roth's novel is essentially an autobiography - even when the name in it is Nathan Zuckerman - often a rather obnoxious male fantasy, and almost constantly a contemplation of his own specific ideas about identity. He believes he has the most crucial insights, or if not insights, at least his doubts are more clever and profound than those of others.

This particular version of the Roth Autobiographic ideal is presented as a spy thriller, but in reality, it is just another example of Roth using a common literary trope to deliver countless diatribes that ultimately end up justifying himself. After all, Roth-the-writer was often labeled as a self-hating Jew, an assimilationist, and an anti-Zionist. But here, he takes the opportunity to tell us, his readers, over the course of about 400+ pages, that this isn't him! It's his alter ego who looks like Philip Roth and whom you've confused with him! It's this schmuck who adopted a public persona that isn't his own and is plotting against the Jewish nation, while he, the author Philip Roth, only used narrative devices to question what it means to be Jewish in this day and age.

Right.

This is coming from the guy who explicitly rejected being Jewish-American and called himself simply "an American." Yet he still wrote an entire novel that not only idolizes Philip Roth but also, at great length and with much chewing over, attempts to grapple with the implications of what Israel means for the Jews. Is Israel a good idea? Should we have it? We probably shouldn't, look how superior we are. These Israelis, doing their Israeli things, are so far from the ideal Jew, but this isn't me, Philip Roth, saying it, it's my parallel universe evil mustache doppelganger, anti-Roth, saying it, so don't blame me, kids.

Honestly, the biggest issue with this book is that - aside from a few episodic moments - it's just plain dull, and because it's so closely tied to the life of the actual Philip Roth, very little actually happens. The most interesting aspect of the novel, for me, was that, considering it was written in 1988, it feels astonishingly relevant to the figures and situation in Israel today - even Netanyahu gets a mention, somehow. I hardly knew he was alive in '88.

To be fair, I am biased, but if you're looking for a better exploration of the relationship between Jewishness and Israel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union just seems like a more engaging read. Operation Shylock just comes across as yet another American Jew loudly telling Israeli Jews what to do.

I am not objective when it comes to Philip Roth and I will never be.

He is a unique talent.

His pen is like that of the hand of God, writing with a golden touch.

He is an unjustly overlooked Nobel laureate, perhaps the most unjustly overlooked.

Come on, together with Coetzee.

Philip Roth's works are a treasure trove of literary excellence. His writing is profound, thought-provoking, and often controversial. He has the ability to explore the human condition in a way that few other authors can.

His characters are complex and multi-dimensional, and his stories are filled with humor, pathos, and a deep understanding of the human psyche.

Whether it's his early works like "Goodbye, Columbus" or his later masterpieces like "American Pastoral" and "The Human Stain," Roth's writing always manages to engage and inspire.

He is a true giant of American literature, and his influence will be felt for generations to come.

Although it started with very good prospects, in the end it managed to tire me out! The writing of the author is excellent, but as a case for me it made me queasy in quite a few points.

At the beginning, I was really excited about the story. The promising setup and the engaging writing style hooked me right away. However, as the narrative progressed, something changed. There were certain aspects of the case that just didn't sit well with me. Maybe it was the way the characters were developed or the decisions they made. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Despite this, I have to admit that the author's writing skills are top-notch. The descriptions were vivid, and the story flowed smoothly. It's just that the overall concept didn't quite resonate with me. Nevertheless, I can see why others might enjoy it. It's a matter of personal preference, I guess.

This was a reread for me. To my surprise, it still holds up extremely well. I would rate it a solid 4.5 stars.

The story is engaging, the characters are well-developed, and the writing is superb. It's one of those books that you can pick up again and again and discover new things each time.

In addition to that, I have to mention the Philip Roth & company podcast. It is truly excellent. The hosts do a great job of analyzing Roth's works, discussing his themes and techniques, and providing valuable insights into his life and career.

If you're a fan of Philip Roth or just interested in literature in general, I highly recommend checking out both the book and the podcast. You won't be disappointed.