The Red Tent

Rating:
Summary: Add This One to Your Top Ten List!!
Review: When I first started the book, I thought~~~~~hmmmmmmm this is definitely different, and wondered if it was a book that would hold my interest. After a few chapters, I was completely hooked! The story is told by Dinah, who is only briefly mentioned in the book of Genesis. She tells the tale of her mother (Leah) and her mother's sisters (Zilpah, Rachel and Bilhah), all wives of Jacob and all mothers to Dinah in her eyes. Through the author's words and eyes, it is so interesting to see the names of Bibical women come to life and their stories told in such a compelling manner (I especially enjoyed the author's depiction of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and grandmother to Dinah). Dinah's life story is told from the moment of her birth until her death with an entire cast of wonderful, well-written characters. Although, some may take offense to the departure from well known Biblical characters being written about in such different light, I found the book fascinating. The reader gets a true sense of what life may have been like for women during Bibical times~~especially interesting are the stories of pregnancy, childbirth and the rituals surrounding the passages women go through during life's journey. The author does an excellent job describing the day-to-day lives of the women by writing of the various herbs and oils they used for medicinal and cooking purposes, the way they dressed and "spun" wool for their garments, and their pride in the making of bread and beer, and their days spent in the Red Tent. What a wonderful idea for a book; the author has done a great job telling it!! I apologize for this much too "wordy" review, but I highly recommend this book and find it rewarding to talk about it~~~~~a book not easily forgotten!

Rating:
Summary: Thrilled to have heard about this book.
Review: I lead a bookclub of women and was so glad to have heard of The Red Tent and shared it with them. This book provided us some of the most enjoyable discussion of the last year and a half. Unlike reviewer Margaret, I found the detail of the daily lives of the women fascinating and an integral part of the book, helping me picture a nomadic, patriarchal, desert life of thousands of years ago (something very different, and yet very much the same as ours today). I think Anita Diamant did an excellent job of expanding a series of Biblical events into a work of fiction from the viewpoint of one minor character. Her characters were rich and multi-dimensional for the most part, and the viewpoint created was unique. While much liberty was taken in describing the events, it never strayed to the point of contradicting the events as they appeared in the Bible. Several of our group members, myself included, were compelled to reread Genesis in order to refresh our memories. This was just the book I needed to read at this point in my life. The births were not tedious, but the central events in the life of a midwife (and indeed in a part of the Bible where "begats" are such a huge part of the story). While there are tragic events in Dinah's life that left me feeling disturbed and bleak, the book mirrors real life and winds to a satisfying and uplifting conclusion. I enjoyed every bit of it and couldn't wait to pick it up each night until I was finished.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing work of literature
Review: Anita Diamant takes one story from the Bible and turns it into an amazing work of art. In the Bible, Dinah is mentioned only when she is raped. Diamant takes this and other stories and tells them from Dinah's point of view. I suggest reading the later parts of Genesis before reading this book, as the story will make more sense and you will undoubtably appreciate this book even more. Not only a celebration of what it is to be a woman, but this book celebrates being a wife, sister, mother, lover and child. The characters are believable and sincere and the plot is intricate and developed. What more can you ask for from a novel? Not only is this book entertaining, but it develops an intellectual theme. Fabulous.

Rating:
Summary: Diamont's Dinah Gives Us Her Voice
Review: Anita Diamont's extraordinary novel, The Red Tent, is the most powerful book I have ever read. Dinah's many voices, as daughter, sister, mother, wife, and friend, reach far into the center of a woman's being, causing an emotional reaction that defies description. While reading Dinah's story, I mourned for the loss of ritualized womanhood and celebratory practices. I mourned for silence in our present day culture, and I renewed my vow to learn and tell the stories of the women in my own family.

Diamont has taken the skeletal words of the Book of Genesis and breathed life into most of the stories. Each name is given a full-fledged personality. The mothers of Dinah however; Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, are given so very much more. The reader grows to know and love them in all of their unique idiosyncratic ways.

As a reader, I am in awe of Diamont's story telling capacities. I wonder about her inspiration, her ability to discover these wonderful facts about ancient times, and her flawless attempt at capturing the world of women.

Indeed, there appears a timeless thread of female love and devotion that runs through the novel from beginning to end. Dinah's voice, silenced in the book of Genesis, reaches out to the reader from the Prologue to beyond the grave. Diamont's beautiful and poetic language demonstrate that "remembering" is truly "a holy thing." Let us all pay homage to Dinah, the forgotten one, by choosing to remember, and by choosing to tell, our own mother's stories. Thank you Anita Diamont for opening a door that hopefully will never close again.

Rating:
Summary: Fiction added to a story of heritage
Review: THE RED TENT gives some interesting insight to the lives of the women of Jacob's family. Unfortunately the fictional elements added to the true story of Jacob caused me distraction. The author's writing style is poetic and captivating but this book is not a good read for those who know and love the heritage and truth of the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Anita Diamant writes a wonderful book with compelling characters and a spellbinding story. Anita captures the history, culture, and most importantly, the humanity of her characters. I wanted this book to keep going indefinately. Very enjoyable. Sylvia

Rating:
Summary: The Red Tent
Review: Our book group raved about this book -- even very busy mothers found time to finish it before our meeting. We decided to eat foods that Dinah may have also eaten to fit the theme when we met to discuss the book. Anita sat next to me in Adult Ed French class ( a few years ago) and I am delighted to say she is a very nice person in real life. Glad that she has found time to write a book that will endure.

Rating:
Summary: The Red Tent
Review: I LOVED this book. I don't know when I enjoyed a book more. For someone who is NOT religious this is just terrifis storytelling. I enjoyed the fact that the book as a good pace to it, it doesn't rush at the end to "tidy" up the ending. Dinah is a fascinating character, as is her whole family. If you enjoy a good tale, read The Red Tent!

Rating:
Summary: Not worth reading
Review: Although this book has been highly touted, it was definitely not worth reading. The story is boring, sugary and poorly written. The story line (was there one?) was poorly constructed. I understand what the author was trying to do (write a story from the womemn's perspective) but while trying to fill in the blanks of the biblical story, she drew a blank herself.

Rating:
Summary: In the great midrashic tradition
Review: This is a novel of interest to those raised both as Christians and as Jews. In fact, it is written in the same spirit as Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel, The Mists of Avalon. The Red Tent brings the previously mute female characters of this story alive. I hope Ms. Diamant will try her hand at other women from the biblical tradition.