The Red Tent

Rating:
Summary: The women of the Bible
Review: When I was about thirteen. my mother "Got Religion", and constantly nagged me to read the Bible. So I did. But I don't think I was reading the stuff she wanted me to read. Being a melodramatic teenager, I of course zoomed in on the vast violent soap opera that is the book of Genesis. And my favorite part was the rivalry between Jacob's wives: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah. They seemed vibrant and alive to me, as if somehow in the few words said about them, their essence had been accidentally preserved.

So of course I read _The Red Tent_. It's a novel retelling the story of Leah's daughter, Dinah, who is a footnote in the Bible. According to Scripture, Dinah was raped, and her brothers took bloody revenge. The hypothesis of this book is that it was not a rape but a forbiddden love affair, referred to as rape by Dinah's male relatives because they could not accept what had really happened.

The most interesting part of the book is the beginning, where Dinah recounts the story of her mother and aunts, who were just as vibrant as I wanted them to be. They loved and envied and bonded in their lives as Jacob's spouses. And they worshipped a Goddess. This seems to be the most controversial part of _The Red Tent_. Everyone is falling all over themselves insisting that those women never worshipped any Goddess. Actually, if you look at history and the Bible, the Hebrews of the time were constantly going back and forth between condemning the goddess Asherah and worshipping her alongside Yahweh. It's not at all implausible that the women of the Bible might have worshipped Asherah in secret women's mysteries.

Then Dinah grows up, has the love affair, and blood is shed. This part of the book is also interesting--sexy, sad, and scary--but it is very short.

Then Dinah flees to Egypt. From this point on, my interest lagged. Maybe because this part wasn't in the story I knew, and Diamant was making it all up, or maybe just because it was less dramatic. Dinah recovers from her emotional wounds and meets a Generically Nice Guy. Blah. :(

Four stars for the first third of the book, three for the second, two for the third. Three overall.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book was excellent. It was completely entertaining and entirely believable. I am madly searching for other books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Archaeological evidence
Review: Excellent portrayal of the period. Having worked on archaeological sites in Israel for several years, I have been associated with sites where evidence of 'pagen' objects are commonly found right along side of objects associated with judaism...in the same households. This indicates that there was simultaneous worship of idols and "El" contrary to what one reviewer might think. I have also worked on sites rich in matriarchal 'goddess' evidence from pre-hebrew periods. The author did an excellent job of filling in the blanks left by the biblical tale and archaeological evidence. Good book!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book was a page turner. I loved it and it tells a story that that is so unlike the story in the Bible depicts. I thought it was powerful and it pulls on all emotions of the heart. The ending was strange and kind of a let down from the heart pounding material throughout the rest of the book. I felt enriched when I finally put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Introduced me to a whole new genre of literature
Review: While I have never been much of a history buff, this book sparked my interest in historical fiction. I was captivated from the first chapter till conclusion. With each introduction of a new character I found myself constantly wondering what would happen to them in their storyline. I became submerged in a whole new world that I had read little about.I found myself often limiting myself to how much I could read a day to prevent myself from finishing it in one sitting.

This is a must read!

Rating:
Summary: not that great
Review: Anita Diamant could have and should have done better research. A lot of the things she puts into the book is not correct. First, she says that Naphtali is Jacob's son with Leah, but in the Bible, Naphtali is the son of Bilhah and Jacob. Second, Diamant [messed] around the story of Joseph in Potiphar's house by saying that Joseph and Potiphar were male lovers and that when Potiphar's wife tried to get Joseph to go to bed with her, Diamant said that Joseph did! These things are not true!
It was interesting to read, save for the historical mistakes made by Diamant

Rating:
Summary: Don't put the book down (though you might be tempted)!
Review: After chapter upon chapter of a very enjoyable and totally believable story, Diamant started to tell a crazy tale in the middle of the book that made no sense. I was very annoyed, but since I enjoyed the book so much in the beginning, I decided to trudge through to the end. Happily, the book got believable and enjoyable again. When I finished it, I got out the Bible to see what in Diamant's book was "real" versus "made up." It was then that I realized that the crazy tale--the one I was so annoyed about--was, indeed, from the Bible itself! It was the stuff that Diamant had fabricated that seemed so believable and real! What an excellent writer!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully touching exploration of womanhood.
Review: I found this book to be well thought out, captivatingly written, and historically plausible if not accurate.
It was "required reading" for my book club and I have passed it on to other friends since I finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than anticipated
Review: When I picked this up for my book club, I was dreading the fact that I'd have to read it. Once I got through the first third of the book, I couldn't put it down. I don't think that this will sit well with people who interpret the Bible literally, but it is an interesting adaption of biblical stories told from the woman's point of view. The cover led me to believe it was a very religious-based novel, but I think it asks the reader to question many of the things found in the Bible and to try and find the story behind the words on the page. Interesting characters, lots for discussion -- a good read.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books that I've ever read!
Review: A true favorite. The imagery that the author uses just draws you into the story, and won't let you go until the very end. If I could give this book another star I would. This book steps you back in history and makes you feel as if you are living the life of the character.