Rating:  Summary: incredible book Review: This book is incredible. I grew up learning the Bible at school. This book is very accurate and its just amazing, wraps you in the rich stories, takes you back to the time, the smells, the food, the sites .... I read this book more than ten times it's really beautiful, i recommend it to all
Rating:  Summary: I've Read it Twice! Review: Yes, I have read it twice and could easily read it again. I liked to hear the stories from the Bible retold from a woman's perspective. After reading it I went back to the Bible to read the same story, albeit from a different perspective. This book is highly recommended.
Rating:  Summary: BE WARNED!!! Review: I had seen "The Red Tent" gracing the bestseller pages for a number of weeks before I eagerly opened the book -then struggled through my boredom to finish it."The Red Tent" is a historical fiction which tells the story of Dinah, Jacob's daughter who is briefly mentioned in the Bible. The novel details everyday life for women of Biblical times, filled with love, religion and harsh lessons, and spans many generations. So what's wrong with it? Plenty. It appears Diamant has tried to create an epic novel as well as a novel that provides a female perspective from traditionally patriarchal subject matter, and has failed to do either. The first two thirds of the book are repetitive in recounting the everyday lives of Jacob's wives, from the women's rituals during menstruation to bedding Jacob and cooking meals. None of the characters are fully explored, so the reader always feels separate from the story. What's right with it? The last third of the novel becomes interesting, as the setting and characters change. With these changes it appears that Diamant isn't so overwhelmed with trying to create a mystical "woman's" story that she finally can relax and write something enjoyable. Do not read this novel expecting a great historical fiction that fills the silences in the Bible with an interesting female perspective that turns your perception of Biblical times on its head. Diamant tries too hard to be a historical fiction and ends up sounding forced and dull. If you want to read great historical fiction, try any of the books by Marion Zimmer-Bradley such as "The Firebrand" or "Mists of Avalon".
Rating:  Summary: Over-use of explicit sexual language (including bestiality) Review: Definitely on the raunchy side. Only got through the first 30 pages, which included mention of masturbation, bestiality, and descriptions of genitalia. These are just not things I want to spend my time reading about.
Rating:  Summary: The story is okay, but should have left the Bible out of it Review: Taken on it's own as complete fiction it is a readable, enjoyable story about several generations of women told by one of them - Dinah. Personally I think she should have left the Biblical characters out of it since she took hardly a single fact from the Bible but their names. The story seems like a not very subtle attempt at denigrating men and the Judeo-Christian God in favor of the new age "goddess" mentality. If you read this book, do yourself the favor of not confusing it with anything written in the Bible.
Rating:  Summary: A Book to Pass Around Review: The Red Tent is an absolutely enjoyable read (especially for women). The first few pages were slow moving & may deter some browsers, but once you get into the book it'll be hard to put down. I can never keep the biblical characters straight (who beget whom), but this story helped me understand the family tree of Jacob. (There is even a helpful diagram of the family's lineage in the front of the book, that I often checked to keep everyone straight.) The characters become very real & captivating. I never gave much thought to the lifestyles or cultures of the biblical times, but this book really gives you great insight while entertaining you also. I would never sell my used copy, because I want to pass it around to every woman I know. This would be a GREAT choice for a book club to read & discuss.
Rating:  Summary: A nice change of perspective Review: It doesn't matter if people say it isn't historically accurate: it is a beautiful story that helped me better define what it means to be woman and a mother. I think it would make a great movie if they kept close to the text. I recommend to anyone- male/female, any religion.
Rating:  Summary: Whether you agree or disagree Review: ...with the author's view/characterization of the men in this story, the imagery and descriptions of the people, places and events in The Red Tent are lustrous and at times truly poetic. Diamant paints scenes with her words and one actually feels as if they are inside the tent with the women on nights of "the new moon", walking across the rippling waves of the river as the family journeys to another land and taking Dinah's last breaths with her. The Red Tent is filled with emotionally-charged events that will make the reader, laugh, cry & cry out in sheer horror. I recommend this book and am surprised there aren't more reviews here with it being a best-selling novel. CLB.
Rating:  Summary: I was completely engrossed Review: As with many truly good fiction books I couldn't put this book down. I grew up hearing the biblical stories that Anita Diamant uses to weave her own version of Dinah around and I thoroughly enjoyed the new perspective she gives to old legends. I have heard people put this book down because of it's questionable historical content. But to me the beautiful tale of Dinah, her mothers, and the colorful women to which she comes into contact are just as real, albeit gender biased, as the bible itself. If you are looking for a lesson in actual history, you may do better reading something else, especially if you consider the Bible to be a completely accurate account. However if you are looking for a taste of the life of a woman in the time of Genesis; if the magic and wisdom of the maiden, mother and crone are something you seek out; if you are in the mood for a very well written historically based fiction novel, then I highly recommend this book.
Rating:  Summary: FANTASTIC Review: The Red Tent is, quite simply, the best novel I've read in years. After reading it for the first time, I set it down for a couple of days and then read it through again. I've since read it at least twice more, and each time it is as engaging and captivating as the last. It's a book I would recommend to any educated, passionate woman I know. My copy has been loaned out numerous times already. Diamant's descriptive abilities are superb; the world she creates is one the reader feels she's been to. An absolute must-read -- and must read again and again.
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