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Loading... Operation Shylock (original 1993; edition 1993)by Philip Roth
Work InformationOperation Shylock: A Confession by Philip Roth (1993)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is not my favorite book by Philip Roth, an author whom I greatly admire. The book examines set in 1980's Israel, examines the conflict between the Israeli's and Palestinians. Roth created a doppelganger, in order to more fully explore both sides of a contentious issue. His double is purporting to be him, and is supporting a theory of "diasporism", that is; the Jewish people are safer and more fully embracing life if they return to Europe. By creating a body double, Roth presents his ambivalence regarding the formation and settlement of Israel by the Jewish people and the state of Israeli- Arab relations. The book has been described as "comic" and hilarious. I found the manic tone exhausting. ( ) 3.5 stars. So... I read this pretty fast, since it was a required read for my crazy-shit class, and I didn't realize I had to finish it until one day before (and I was then only 70-ish pages in...). And it was a pretty cool read, I have to say. The best thing about it was how it maintained my interest throughout. I found myself continuing to read not only because I had to, but because I genuinely wanted to know what the fuck was going on (not that I actually got any concrete answers. Heh-heh.) I think that's always a big factor in the goodness of any kind of book. As I expected, this book focused on many of the themes we've been dealing with in class: Doubles, materiality, and paratext to name a few. I'm not going to go into any of this because we've only just begun discussing this book and also because this is the kind of book that you have to go into blind and just let yourself be manipulated freely. So, yeah. A very decent read. no reviews | add a review
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. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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