The Visiting Professor

by Robert Littell

Lemuel Falk, "a Russian theoretical chaoticist on the lam from terrestrial chaos," has been applying for permission to leave Russia every year for the past twenty-three years. Because he knows state secrets, he has not been allowed to cross the state's frontiers. Now, suddenly, his request for an exit visa is approved -- a sure sign that the situation is even more chaotic than he had imagined.

Falk accepts a chair as a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York. Arriving in the Promised Land under the impression that the streets are paved with Sony Walkmans, he plunges into the heart of another kind of chaos. No sooner has he arrived than he sets off on an academic cat fight, falls in love with a hairdresser half his age, and becomes a self-styled gumshoe tracking a serial killer.

In one of his most original novels, Littell explores the relationships between randomness and God, chaos and sex, a butterfly tattoo and occasional rain, the going and the getting there. The Visiting Professor is a delicious post-Cold War romp through a chaotic contemporary America.

Genres: Fiction, Espionage

226 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

An American author residing in France. He specializes in spy novels that often concern the CIA and the Soviet Union. He became a journalist and worked many years for Newsweek during the Cold War. He's also an amateur mountain climber and is the father of award-winning novelist Jonathan Littell.

Reviews

[SlowRain · Rating 3 out of 5]

At its most basic level, the story is about a professor from the former Soviet Union being a guest lecturer at an American college. Along the way, he meets a beautiful hairdresser half his age, gets caught up in an environmental protest, is courted by espionage agencies from around the world, and works with the police on a serial-killer case.

Although primarily known as an espionage novelist, here Robert Littell gives us a satire about America in the early '90s. His sentences are interesting, his characters are engaging, his wit is keen. However, the narrative is a bit unfocused as it switches back and forth between the third-person to the first-person perspectives of the two main characters. It also doesn't handle the professor's transition to America in enough detail to be entirely convincing.

What it does do, though, is spend a great deal of time talking about chaos theory, randomness, God, redemption, the journey vs. the destination, and relationships. This, I think, is where a lot of readers lose interest. It's not as heavy as, say, The Name of the Rose, but the reader has to be prepared to do a little work with this one.

Still, it's a decent read. Littell's die-hard fans may be disappointed because it appears to be a huge departure from his usual fare. Seeing as this is my first encounter with him, I'm suitably impressed. I'd say it's more of a 3 1/2 stars than the three I gave it, but I know it's not an all-out four. The novel served its purpose of entertaining me in a way that was not insulting, so the impression it left was a favorable one.

[Dennis McClure · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve read my reviews of Littell, you know I love his writing. So he gets five stars again. One reason I’m hooked on his books is that no two are the same. This one is whimsical, for God’s sake.

Whimsical.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice book, not too interesting, but just… The way it’s written, the expressions, the point of view on things, that kinda thing.

[Arax Miltiadous · Rating 3 out of 5]

για να είμαι ειλικρινείς, όταν η φίλη μου μου πρότεινε αυτό το βιβλίο και όντας λιγάκι αρνητικά προκατειλημμένη απο τον τίτλο- περίμενα κανα δευτεροκλασάτο λαβ στόρι, δεν ειχα καθόλου απαιτήσεις και φιλοδοξίες.
ναι, με κατέλαβε εξ εξαπίνης.
δεν με ενθουσίασε γιατί αφήνει κενά και γιατί καταφανέστατα θα μπορούσε να αποτελεί ΥΠΕΡΒΙΒΛΙΑΡΑ αλλα αντ'αυτού συμβιβάζεται στην μετριότητα με μερικές μόνο ευφάνταστες στιγμές.
πάραυτα
παίζει μαζί με τον αναγνώστη σε πάρα πολλά επίπεδα και στήνει ένα σκηνικό με βάση την θεωρία του Χάους και την πρακτική της εφαρμογή καθημερινά, πράγμα που βρήκα όντως πρωτότυπο.

οπότε
Αν έχεις αρκετό Χαος μέσα σου μπορείς να χτίσεις έναν κόσμο..........
και να μην ξεχνάς πως η αταξία είναι η έσχατη πολυτέλεια αυτών που ζουν με τάξη!

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Ρόμπερτ Λίτελ είναι ένας πολυγραφότατος συγγραφέας, με πάνω από είκοσι μυθιστορήματα στο ενεργητικό του (το πρώτο του βιβλίο εκδόθηκε το 1973 και το τελευταίο του το 2024 - μιλάμε για πενήντα χρόνια συγγραφής!), τα περισσότερα εκ των οποίων έχουν να κάνουν με τον κόσμο των κατασκόπων και των μυστικών υπηρεσιών. Το πιο γνωστό του είναι το πραγματικά επικό The Company που αφορά την ιστορία της CIA (έχει γίνει και μίνι σειρά), αλλά και το κλασικό στο είδος του The Amateur, που έχει μεταφερθεί δυο φορές στον κινηματογράφο (το 1981 και το 2025). Θέλω να πω, είναι ένας γαμάτος συγγραφέας, αλλά στην Ελλάδα έχουν μεταφραστεί μόλις τρία βιβλία του, και μάλιστα όχι και τα πιο γνωστά του! Και αυτό είναι το τρίτο του που διαβάζω, μετά το πάρα πολύ καλό "Φίλμπυ" που διάβασα τον Αύγουστο του 2016 και το εξαιρετικό "Ο Σύντροφος Κόμπα" που διάβασα τον Δεκέμβριο του 2021, κάτι που σημαίνει ότι Ρόμπερτ Λίτελ γιοκ (ελπίζω προς το παρόν). Λοιπόν, περίεργο και ιδιόρρυθμο βιβλίο, σίγουρα η γραφή, οι χαρακτήρες και η πλοκή δεν είναι για όλα τα γούστα, εμένα όμως ο Λίτελ με κέρδισε με την αφήγησή του, την τρέλα της πλοκής και των χαρακτήρων, το ιδιόρρυθμο και καυστικό χιούμορ του, την έξυπνη σάτιρα απέναντι στις ΗΠΑ των αρχών της δεκαετίας του '90. Ουσιαστικά έχουμε έναν σπουδαίο Ρώσο καθηγητή που ειδικεύεται στη θεωρία του χάους, που ταξιδεύει από τη Σοβιετική Ένωση στις ΗΠΑ, σαν καλεσμένος ενός αμερικάνικου κολλεγίου, ώστε να παραδώσει μια σειρά μαθημάτων. Ε, και όλα όσα συμβαίνουν στο βιβλίο μπορεί να τα αποκαλέσει κανείς και χαώδη... Σίγουρα έχει τα θεματάκια του σαν βιβλίο, αλλά η γραφή, το στιλ της αφήγησης, η όλη τρέλα του και η ατμόσφαιρα, με κέρδισαν κατά κράτος. Πραγματικά ελπίζω να δούμε κάποια στιγμή ένα οποιοδήποτε βιβλίο αυτού του τυπά στα ελληνικά. Μου φαίνεται τόσο παράλογο που οι Έλληνες εκδότες τον έχουν παραμελήσει τόσο, μα τόσο πολύ.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel many people will find charming. Written by an American about a Russian ex-pat in upstate NY (Elmira) in the '90s.

Honestly it was just too... American. Many of the opinions of the Russian were rather shallow; the portrayal of Upstate was okay in so far as it went, but I'd say the author hadn't visited very long. (I actually lived in Upstate - Binghamton - for 4 years in the '90s, when this novel was set.)

And the happy-ever-after ending was downright silly. The non-stop discussions about randomness and chaos are a little jejune as well.

Thirty years on, there is a large number of flaws in the novel's implicit politics, about Russia, Russians, etc.. Well that can't be helped. There WAS a lot of euphoria back then when the wall fell.

It's competently written but not particularly engaging. Unless maybe you are very American.

[Mike Kanner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've studied chaos (and complexity) theory as a graduate student, which is why this novel intrigued me when it showed up in an Amazon ad.

However, I didn't really see chaos as much as I saw an attempt to place a novel in a Vonnegut-type world. The characters and plot reminded me of the messy narratives that you see in CAT'S CRADLE or his other novels. It is not quite absurd, but not quite an ordered narrative.

There is a quirky set of characters; however, one is annoying and most of the others superfluous, except to highlight that there are a lot of people who want to hire the main character for nefarious reasons.

[Effie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting, although somewhat chaotic!!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting

Although spies did show up eventually. In the end, after realizing this Robert Littell tale was totally different, I enjoyed this novel immensely.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me. I think I enjoyed a total of maybe 25 pages.

[Tuxlie]

Publisher's Weekly
Forsaking his customary thriller territory, Littell ( The Revolutionist ) here finds fertile new ground in the farther reaches of mathematics, which prove a wellspring of rich and consistently surprising comedy. When Lemuel Falk, a Russian ''theoretical chaoticist on the lam from terrestrial chaos,'' arrives to take up his visiting fellowship at Backwater University, he is immediately confronted by a blizzard of Americana: is it absolute confusion or, as Lemuel suspects, merely ''fool's randomness''--the facade of disorder behind which lurks a pure meaning? Many turn to him for the answer: a dope-smoking Orthodox rabbi seeking ''the chaos at the heart of the heart of the Torah,'' a libidinous female barber named Occasional Rain, and a multinational throng of spooks and spies all seeking to use Lemuel's mathematical genius for their encryption programs. A not-quite-innocent abroad fleeing Stalinist ghosts, the professor quests across the spiraling chaos of the American landscape, becoming in succession or in combination a lover, theologian, political protestor, media celebrity, homicide investigator and, finally, a refugee in the deceptively tranquil aisles of the local E-Z Mart. Littell's fast-paced satire is by turns bawdy, cerebral and touching.

Library Journal
When Lemuel Falk first arrives from the Soviet Union to take up a visiting professorship at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York, he expects to discover a land where streets are paved with Sony Walkmans. Instead, he encounters a beautiful female barber who cadges luxury items from the grocery store, state troopers protecting the construction of a nuclear waste dump, and a serial murderer whose victims show absolutely no connection with each other. Drawn in to these issues--at first helplessly and then with more determination--the beleaguered Russian is able at last to confront and deal with his own past. Quirky characters and linguistic byplay insure the book's appeal to sophisticated readers. Littell is the author of An Agent in Place (Bantam, 1991) . -- Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.

BookList - Denise Perry Donavin
"I am on the lam from terrestrial chaos, but I seem to take chaos with me wherever I go," states Lemuel Falk, a Soviet professor of chaos visiting an American institute dedicated to such studies. Beyond the basic chaos of the universe, Lemuel creates a good deal of the garden variety through his ignorance of American idioms and culture and his dealings with students at a nearby university. Along the way, he works to discover the identity of a serial killer, which after all is just a study of randomness--"his life's passion." Heavy-hitting humor from the author of "The Once and Future Spy" (1990).

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the more disliked books in Littell canon. I can see why most people who love his other books would dislike this one, and it's unfortunate. He's definitely going back to his satirical, black-comedy style like he was in "Sweet Reason" (his homage to "Catch 22", and another disliked one as well).

If you loved "The Company", if you loved "The Revolutionist", you may not love this one. But I urge you to try it out, it's a short read, and quite entertaining. It has elements of Delillo's "White Noise" (small college town, a small sub-plot of nuclear anxiety, obsession with supermarkets, satire on college life of students and faculty) and a lot of Pynchon elements as well (the strange names of the characters, melding of multiple philosophies and religions simultaneously, a darkly playful sense of humor). It's these elements that give the book its charm and humor, and it is a very funny book. It plays with sexual mores, academic bureaucracy and bumbling, small town police work. Even the CIA agents who appear in the novel are played of as caricatures.

Perhaps fans of Littell's other novels were unhappy with the lack of seriousness and Cold War drama that is a major touchstone in his other books. The main character, Lemuel Falk, is a Russian chaotician who finally receives an exit visa from the former Soviet Union. He takes a visiting professor position in a small upstate New York college town (not at all subtly called Backwater) at the university's center for chaos studies. He misunderstands English language idioms, he displays a remarkable skill at determining his local grocer's stocking needs before he does, and he falls in love with a "plays by her own rules" student/pot dealer/sexual yogi named Rain. He befriends a former rabbi who's studies of the Torah coincide with Lemuel's search for pure randomness. On top of all this, Lemuel is also assisting the local sheriff with tracking a serial killer who seemingly kills "at random".

This is not a deeper look into the "hall of mirrors" that is espionage throughout the decades. This is not a fictionalized account of real life Cold War operations. It is a very entertaining and funny novel, fusing religion and mathematics, love and chaos. With the Cold War over (as Lemuel is fond of saying: "There is no more Soviet Union."), Littell may be making the point that the usual relationships between the US and the former "Evil Empire" are as absurd as the situations in the novel.

Give it a read if you're interested in seeing a different side of Littell. Leave it on the shelf if you're just going to bemoan the lack of your usual spy thriller.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Distractingly amusing, but not up to Robert Littell's usual levels of intrigue or espionage sophistication. For once, he displays himself a romantic (or at least all of his characters are). A further foible: I can't seem to place the American era in which this takes place, except to say it is post-Soviet. His American characters are at once classically American and sufficiently ageless to be caricatures themselves.

[Mark Pool · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Littell"s The Company. And Legends, was pretty good. This book, however, was pretty bad EXCEPT for the character of Rain.

[Graham East · Rating 2 out of 5]

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