Partly because of Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", and partly because I had lent the novel to a friend and she didn't like it, I decided to reread the one that in my memory was one of the works I had most enjoyed by Philip Roth, and that already means that I had enjoyed it a great deal. Was I afraid that that memory would be poisoned by an unsatisfactory rereading? Yes. Has such a thing happened? No.

"Operation Shylock" seems to me an amazing wonder for many reasons; for taking autofiction to insurmountable limits, for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from so many points and contradictions that it goes much deeper than in most essays, for fragments and sentences that stick with a light that will accompany you for the rest of your steps, for the games with the reader, for the laughter at himself and at everything, and, in short, for being incredibly well written.

I can understand that this book is not as satisfactory for everyone as it is for me, but of course I strongly urge that it be given a chance, because if thanks to my recommendation, someone reads it and enjoys it only half as much as I have enjoyed it, that reader, I suspect, will be eternally grateful to me.

And here I leave another idea: read it before or after reading "The Merchant": great literature calls to great literature.

Despite the fact that it sometimes dragged just a bit, this book truly deserves five stars. It is a virtuosic work that handles all that postmodern stuff with great ease and unselfconsciousness. The exploration of who the author is, the author within his book, his double, and so on, is done in a way that is quite different from, for example, Paul Auster.

And the rants! They are the best part. I was extremely delighted to discover Diasporism as it closely aligns with the view I hold myself. Anti-Semites Anonymous and the Chofetz Chayim are also fascinating elements. I could continue to rave about these aspects for a long time.

Suffice it to say that this book is a masterpiece, although perhaps it is one that only I can fully appreciate. Its unique blend of postmodern concepts, engaging rants, and thought-provoking ideas make it a truly remarkable read. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys exploring the boundaries of literature and ideas.

Philip Roth's charm and the admiration I have for him continue to grow steadily. Just like in "Trapped in America", he leaves the reader to untangle the tight relationship between reality and fiction with a mind-boggling alternative history and political novel.

The theme of "The Plot Against America" is truly a multi-layered book. If we were to put this multi-layered nature into a framework, perhaps it could be like this: a. At the bottom layer, there is the trial of Ivan Demjanjuk, who was known as "Ivan the Terrible" and was carried out in Israel in 1986. b. At the main layer, there is the story of two Philip Roths, one being the main character of the book and the other having a physical and name similarity to him. The latter uses the main character's author identity to take action to create a final solution to the Jewish problem, and the two stories overlap. The novel then turns into an incredible literary festival by building on two themes one on top of the other.

In conclusion, in "The Plot Against America", Philip Roth leaves the reader in a dilemma from the very beginning to the end of whether this book is really a fiction or a reality. He approaches these concepts from an incredibly different perspective by completely reducing the distance between the author and the character. I think that Roth, in "Shylock", has completely transformed his alter ego Zuckerman, who appeared in his other novels, into himself. In addition, I think that the second Philip Roth in the novel, who calls himself Moishe Pipik, is a reference and a salute to Dostoyevsky's "The Double". (Moishe Pipik is a cancer patient who is about to die - Philip Roth has a crisis due to the drug-induced delirium).

Moreover, the title of the book refers to Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". This reference supports the multi-layered nature of the novel that I mentioned at the beginning and Philip Roth's creation of an extremely objective and rather harsh criticism of himself and his socio-cultural foundation as an American Jew.

Frankly, "The Plot Against America" has become a book that I really like in every way. Although I finished reading the book 11 days ago, I must state that it often comes to my mind. The respect I have for Philip Roth as a writer has been taken to a whole new level with this book.

In summary, it is a literary festival from beginning to end and a beautifully written book. If you are familiar with Philip Roth and have not read it yet, or if you have a prejudice against the author, or if alternative history interests you, I recommend that you read it.

Happy reading! 10/10

This is my fourth book by the author that I have read. However, unfortunately, it is my least favorite among them.

This book won The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1994, which is quite an achievement. But for me, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The first 25% of the book, I really enjoyed. The story seemed to be going in an interesting direction, and I was hooked. But then, it just went off the rails for me. I found myself getting lost and confused, not really understanding where the author was taking the story.

The ending chapter, at least, tried to explain to me what the author was trying to do. But even then, I just didn't get it. Maybe it was too deep for me, or maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate it.

Overall, while I can see that this book has its merits, it just wasn't for me. I'm still a fan of the author, and I'll definitely be reading more of their work in the future, but this particular book will probably not be one that I'll be recommending to others.

Everything about this book serves as conclusive evidence of why I have such a profound love for Philip Roth's writing. Firstly, his use of humor is truly remarkable. It adds a light-hearted touch to the often complex and serious themes he explores, making the reading experience not only intellectually stimulating but also enjoyable.

Secondly, his masterful command of the English language is simply awe-inspiring. He weaves words together in the most creative and engaging ways, creating a rich tapestry of language that draws the reader in and holds their attention from beginning to end.

Moreover, Roth's writing has a unique ability to provoke thinking. His stories and characters force us to confront our own beliefs, values, and prejudices, challenging us to see the world from different perspectives.

Finally, his work is highly relevant to the modern world. He tackles issues such as race, gender, sexuality, and identity with a depth and sensitivity that is both timely and important. In a world that is becoming increasingly divided and polarized, Roth's writing offers a much-needed voice of reason and understanding.

“Look, I've got more personalities than I can use already. All you are is one too many.”

― Philip Roth, Operation Shylock: A Confession





This is where the remarkable run of the late, great Roth began. Operation Shylock initiated what could potentially be the most outstanding series of great books by a single author that I can envision.

Operation Shylock: A Confession (1993)

Sabbath's Theater (1995)

American Pastoral (1997)

I Married a Communist (1998)

The Human Stain (2000)


Just as I usually do with great writers, I approach their early masterpieces in a roundabout way. I read backwards, sideways, and ultimately arrive at the first one.

So, in 2014 (21 years after its initial publication), I find myself engrossed in and adoring Operation Shylock. I am astounded by Roth's ability to manipulate an idea with such dexterity, bending it back and forth without causing it to break. He skillfully flexes and bends (perhaps in a somewhat sinister manner?) an idea until every last detail has been extracted. The effort is palpable on every page. He constructs a book filled with doppelgängers, liars, Jews, Palestinian rock throwers, and professors, wreaking havoc on any semblance of a simple plot. Every mirror in Roth's novel reverses the part in your hair, eventually revealing that your perception of who you are and what you believe is fabricated from fiction. There is no absolute fact, only deception and transgression.

This novel is not built upon a single narrative. It is composed of several intertwined narratives. The narrative of Roth writing about a Roth (a fictionalized version of himself) being stalked by another Roth (Moshe Pipkin). Everyone is engaged in a game of one-upmanship. Interspersed within the narrative are several true accounts (such as Aharon Apelfeld, Leon Klinghoffer, John Demjanjuk (who may also be Ivan the Terrible Demjanjuk)). These "true" narratives serve to further deepen the concept of a fluid identity, our shared responsibility, and our inherent propensity to lie, deceive, and hustle. Then there is the other true narrative, that of the Jew, the Goy, Israel, and the Diaspora. Roth manages to weave all of this together in a seamless and effective manner. He is able to reflect on his place within the Jewish community and as a writer in a way that would not have been possible without being confronted with a transgressive doppelgänger. Anyway, I'm still grappling with trying to fully understand and come to terms with the entire work. Perhaps, I'll write more tomorrow about the missing Chapter 11, or perhaps I'll simply decide to forget it and return to my own non-Jewish problems.

Damn! Philip Roth is truly one of the greatest writers of all time.

This novel represents the pinnacle of a series of novels that explore the boundaries between fact and fiction. It gradually intensifies the meta aspects, resulting in a novel where Philip Roth is impersonated by another Philip Roth in Israel. The novel delves deep into the themes of duality and double meanings.

It is experimental, filled with erudition, and yet humorous. The writing style is unapologetically rambling, which adds to its charm. This is yet another outstanding work from a legendary author who continues to push the boundaries of literature and captivate readers with his unique vision and storytelling abilities.

Philip Roth's body of work is a testament to his literary genius and his ability to create thought-provoking and engaging novels that will be studied and enjoyed for years to come.

The current situation is truly incredible.

It seems that there are more than enough pages.

This could imply a variety of things.

Perhaps there is an abundance of information or resources available.

It might also suggest that there is a surplus in a particular area.

However, it's important to analyze this situation further.

We need to determine if this excess is beneficial or if it could potentially lead to waste or inefficiency.

Maybe there are ways to make better use of these extra pages, such as repurposing them or sharing them with others who could benefit.

In conclusion, while the current state of having more than enough pages is interesting, it requires careful consideration and exploration to fully understand its implications and make the most of it.

The Merchant of Venice poses a series of thought-provoking questions: «Does a Jew not have eyes? Does he not have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Does he not feed on food? Does he not feel wounds? Is he not subject to illness and cured by medicine, warmed and cooled by summer and winter like a Christian? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?».

Inevitably, throughout this journey that seamlessly jumps from fiction to non-fiction, I have thought about these words. Besides the title, what this invective brings to mind is also the way Roth analyzes - more so than in other novels - what it means to be Jewish. The inheritance of the Holocaust, the creation of Israel and the consequent unrelenting struggle with the Palestinians, the situations of spying and counter-spying with the Mossad, the trial of the alleged Treblinka executioner. And so far, the truth. But equally interesting is what our writer, the first-person protagonist of the story, passes off as fiction. Moishe Pipik (what a brilliant nickname), his alter ego always on the verge of unreality, of pure literary creation, of farce from a theatrical comedy; Wanda Jinx, femme fatale, militant anti-Semite and then founding member of the A.A, Anonymous Anti-Semites in order to redeem herself; Smilesburger, enigmatic Mossad agent who wants to recruit Philip - the original - for an absurd mission; and also George Ziad, Ahaaron, Shmuel and many others.

It is a gallery of grotesque characters, at times caricatured but which confirm Roth's storytelling power. He is at his best when he talks about himself - whether the news is true or false - about his condition as a writer, about his relationship with artistic creation. Operation Shylock is, in short, a confession, but a confession related not to a mere spy story, but to the condition of a man, a people, a state - Israel - towards which the author does not hide numerous notes of criticism (see the speech about the Israeli Jew who is not worth those of the diaspora, especially the Americans).

So, who is Shylock? A despised and reviled victim by the goyim (gentiles) or a profiteer who embodies the worst of Judaism? Everything seems to lead to a metriotes that, it seems, is found in very few exponents of Judaism, divided between hatred and victimhood and little able to adopt a position in the middle. Roth, however, seems to succeed, and through this kind of picaresque novel, he reveals all the contradictions - strange as they may still be - of a country and a religion, of its relationships with the Other and the Similar, of the difficult relationship with a terrible and burdensome past (and Demjanjuk, the real executor or scapegoat of the horrors of Treblinka, testifies to this).

In conclusion, Roth is once again promoted with full marks, and this novel takes an essential place, in my opinion, in his body of work.

Philip Roth's 1993 novel, Operation Shylock, is an audacious and wickedly funny exploration of the misunderstandings, distortions, and tragedies that have afflicted the Jewish people.

It also delves into his own relationship with other Jews, mainly centered on the question of whether fidelity to the principles of Zionism and the State of Israel is crucial for one's good standing as a Jew. Roth approaches these issues by imagining a second Philip Roth who has taken on his identity and is promoting a second Diaspora, where Jews in Israel would emigrate back to anti-Semitic Europe, the place where they and their rich culture originated.

The provocations in this book are outlandish, brilliant, and in many ways quite sad. Every attempt Roth makes to address the Israel/Palestinian conflict reaches a dead end. The real Philip Roth and the impostor Philip Roth clash with futile intensity, while the Mossad monitors and tries to take advantage of their struggles.

However, the problem with this book is that it is essentially a series of astounding rants. Each one is a tour de force, but overall, it can be rather tedious. I almost never stop reading a book before the end, but by page 250 (out of 400), I started skimming, and as far as I could tell, I didn't lose the connection to what was happening. There is just a lot of repetition within these rants. Once you understand the dynamic of the plot, the topic sentence of each paragraph leads you to where you need to go.

I'm a Roth fan, and I wish I were more aware of the uproar this book must have caused when it was released. But at that time, I was "elsewhere" (in New Mexico, in fact). That must have been an interesting situation. Although Operation Shylock remains relevant, it's pretty much a case of jokes being told several times too often.

Certainly, those who have a bit of intolerance for Roth's invasive ego must avoid this book where there are actually two Philips Roth. This book is entirely centered around the being - Roth: Reduced by physical and psychiatric ailments, he looks in the mirror, but the reflected image becomes autonomous and elusive, makes fun of the original and replaces it until it makes him doubt his true identity and his awareness of being Jewish.

In the background, there are various subplots: the Palestinian friend found but hostile, the trial of Demijaniuk, the Mossad, the improbable but possible Jewish/anti-Israeli conspiracy under the banner of "diasporism".

There is so much material, but not all of it is mastered as well as in his works that convinced me more. The story seems to be a complex web of ideas and emotions, but at times it lacks the cohesion and clarity that Roth is capable of achieving. However, it still offers some interesting insights into the mind of a complex and controversial writer.

The way I see it, this is the book Philip Roth was put on this Earth to write. Oh, people will talk about how insightful "Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories" or "The Plot Against America" or the numerous Zuckerman books are. But I firmly believe this book has more to offer than any of those. At least, compared to the admittedly piecemeal selection I've read of them. It's also significantly funnier than the rather one-joke "Portnoy’s Complaint". And why wouldn't it be? Roth is back to the alter-ego play, but this time his alter ego, which enables him to be both funnier and more introspective than he was as Portnoy, Kepesh, or Zuckerman, is... Philip Roth himself! Or rather, an unrelated Philip Roth impersonating him, which of course means the version of him crafted and curated specifically for this novel. So it's Philip Roth writing about Philip Roth, processing Philip Roth.

The backstory is that Roth, after some serious surgery, had a bit of a breakdown while taking a sleeping pill that wasn't quite ready for public consumption. This, as far as I can tell, happened to the real Roth. The whole bit about the other Philip Roth (henceforth Moishe Pipkin, his nickname in the book) going down to Jerusalem and telling all the Jewish people of European descent to return to their home countries is probably fictional. It seems like a little swipe at the broader Jewish community's complex relationship with Roth.
So here's where things get interesting. We learn early on that, despite his political ambitions, Pipkin is a fundamentally ridiculous figure. He has an exaggerated love for Roth and expresses his emotions in downright cartoonish extremes. Roth's nickname for him, "Moses Bellybutton" in Yiddish, is apparently a sort of Jewish leprechaun. Combining the fact that Roth here faces off with his alter ego with his propensity to pile alter egos up, I have to take this as Roth kind of making fun of himself. That's not to say there's no seriousness in this book. There is a weight that cuts through the jokes and gives them context. It's all about identity, false accusations, and doubles, like the trial of "Ivan the Terrible". Roth can be a really artful writer when he sets aside the stuff that annoys me about him. And I appreciate how he doesn't make any explicit parallels between his situation and Ivan's. It deepens the theme of identity, and I think it does so terrifically.
It drives me crazy how I waver on this guy. I wish I could just dismiss him like I've safely dismissed Updike. But he always has that one book that makes me think otherwise. The cycle played out first when I, disappointed by "Portnoy’s Complaint", gave him one last shot with "American Pastoral" and was hooked. I read it quickly, but then "Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories" and "The Human Stain" didn't have the same impact. Eventually, I hit "I Married a Communist", which was not quite bloodless but certainly anemic. At that point, I decided I was done with Roth. But he wasn't done with me, and he still isn't. I'll probably be split on the late Mr. Roth until the day I die, and I definitely have to take his books one at a time. This one? This is the best one I've read so far.
And can we talk about how much I hate the title "The Plot Against America"? It's so artless, bland, and blunt. It's bereft of poetry and ambiguity, so Fox News-y, and beneath Roth's astonishing verbal facility. I kind of don't want to read that book, and I certainly don't want anyone to see me reading it.