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| Plot Summary of Operation Shylock |
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"Operation Shylock tells the story of an American Jew author, Philip Roth, who hears that someone has been using his name in Israel to promote the ideology of Diasporism, that the European Jews of Israel should return to their homelands in Europe. The protagonist narrator, the author Philip Roth, seems to be based on the author of the book itself. If the story told were not so absurd—Philip Roth eventually becomes a spy for the Mossad—we might believe that the story is in fact what its subtitle suggests, a confession. The rogue Philip Roth is never given a true identity, but instead exists to the protagonist as Moishe Pipik, Yiddish for Moses Bellybutton.
After recovering from a debilitating experience from a prescription medication, Halcion, Philip learns of his impostor. He initially wonders if it could just be another drug-induced hallucination. Yet he soon determines that it is all too real. As scheduled, he travels to Israel to interview the Israeli author Aharon Appelfield. However, most of his time is spent in conversation with Pipik, at the trial of John Demjanjuk , or with college friend and now-ardent-Arab George Ziad, whom Philip initially leads to believe that he and Pipik are one and the same.
Philip alternates between imitating Pipik (who is imitating him) and attempting to discover Pipik's real motivation behind his Diaspora initiative. Philip discovers Pipik's girlfriend, Jinx, and has an irresistible attraction to her. From her, Philip learns about Anti-Semites Anonymous, a support group designed by Pipik to correct Gentiles of anti-Semitism just like Alcoholics Anonymous corrects alcoholism. Over the course of the narrative, he picks up other bits and pieces of information about his impostor. He discovers that Pipik, a former private investigator, has cancer as well as a penile implant to please Jinx."
Whitney, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Operation Shylock |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Life of a profession:
- spy
Inside culture (main char)
- Jew
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- Jewish
Job/Profession/Status story
Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Genius
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a lot
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Genius
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 (a fair amount)
United States
Yes
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Israel
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- use of artificial tools
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of nude males (the big P)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of play on words
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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