Rating: 
Summary: loved it
Review: fantastic. I kept having to remind myself that it is fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: I loved this book - even though I'm not a Christian and not overly interested in the Bible. It is quite simply a beautifully written story.
Rating: 
Summary: An amazingly good read
Review: This book was recommended to me by a book club friend, and I purchased it right away. However, it took me some months to actually sit down and read it, because I to begin with, felt that the story did not sound like anything I would like to read. How wrong I was!The story about Laban's 4 daughters and Dinah, "their" daughter, is an amazing story about growing up, becoming a woman, about love and hate, about men and women, about sex, child births, triupmhs and tragedies. This book has it all, and even though it is build on biblical characters, it doesn't become "too biblical" in any way. The story is well developed and the characters easy to associate with, even though the story takes place more than 1000 years ago. It is definitely a woman-book, and I am not sure all men will enjoy it as much as the women will. I would have rated this 5 if the last part of the book had moved just a bit quicker and if the editors had cut maybe 20 or 30 pages out, but all in all this is a hughly recommendable book.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I did not think that I would like "The Red Tent" until I found a copy at a used book store and opened it up. It started off with keeping me mesmerised from page one!
The bond that Dinah had with her four mothers in the red tent was absolutely wonderful............
There were some areas in the book that I thought barbaric, but life was brutal back then, and women were the property of their man..............ewwwwww!
This was a very nice story, one worth keeping on my bookshelf for my daughters to read. I just wish there were more good stories like this one out there.
Rating: 
Summary: The Big Book of Biblical Menstruation
Review: I am an avid reader of theologically-based novels. I had high hopes for this book. In many ways, it's well written and indeed an interesting point of view. However, I have to say, the graphic descriptions of menstruation, birth, midwifery, and budding feminine sexuality were far too much for me. After a point, I swore every other paragraph concerned something vaginal. Some might enjoy this. I did not. But, I was determined to finish the book. The author's odd glee and relish in these menstrual musings is a bit disturbing as well. Of course, towards the middle of the novel, we're given much description of circumcision, too. Just so the guys don't feel left out. Again, not really something I want to read. So, yes, this is a well-written book. And, yes, it's an interesting voice on an OT story. But, ewwwwww...unless you enjoy a great deal of gynecological chat (and I mean a GREAT deal), this isn't the book for you. Be forewarned.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: I had great hopes for this book after being enchanted by the very promising beginning and Anita Diamant's lyrical, poetic language. Unfortunately the book didn't really live up, even though it's been a fairly entertaining, enjoyable read. I always like reading a fresh spin on an old story and rarely have problems with authors mucking around with facts, so I didn't have problems with whatever historical inaccuracies there were. My problems were more with the way Diamant treats the characters: men are mostly reduced to shallow caricatures and Dinah's two romances come straight from your average bodice-ripper. The rituals and daily life of Dinah's four mothers were interesting to read, although I felt like I might overdose on the celebration of oh-so-harmonious-glorious sisterhood that the book is drenched with at times. I mean, I'm proud to be a woman and all but there was just too much hair-braiding and feet-rubbing for my liking. Also, the story runs out of steam somewhat after the climatic event in Dinah's life: her life in Egypt is simply not that terribly interesting, and the new characters she meets there lack the strength of Leah and Rachel. I would still recommend the book, but just don't expect too much.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down! Excellent!
Review: It gives you an idea of what life may have been like at that time. I identified with Dinah & felt her losses and victories in a difficult time for women (and men it seems). I see that some reviewers called this book a romance, but I personally didn't see this book as a romance at all - not even close. Maybe "Historical Fiction"? Either way, it was wonderful!
Rating: 
Summary: Radical Departure from the Biblical Text
Review: When the author writes that her story is a readical departure from the Biblically text - she claims it is because she tells and unknown part of the story -- fleshes it out for us -- and that she tells it from a woman's perspective. It truly is a radically departure -- but that is mostly because she plays very fast and loose with the Biblical account. She doesn't just fill in missing details -- she changes whole facts. The God of the Bible gets very few mentions at all - and nearly all of them derogatory. If you're into idolatry and pagan religions -- and you like to see the God of the Bible mocked and made fun of -- then this might be your kind of book. As for me and my household -- we will serve the Lord.
Rating:
Summary: Accurate presentation of Canaanite and early Hebrew Culture
Review: The Red Tent will prove shocking for some readers unfamiliar with the values of ancient nomadic life in Mesopotamia and Canaan. It is, however, an amazingly clear and compelling picture of that lifestyle. Diamant writes with keen understanding of historical research relative to the period presented in the biblical stories of the family of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah, retelling and expanding those stories from the perspective of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. She does not attempt to stay faithful to every detail of the biblical stories. Jacob works for 14 months for the right to marry Leah and Rachel, rather than the 14 years in the biblical story, for example, but Diamant creates a narrative world that places the biblical stories accurately in the cultural context that they assume. She presents a realistic picture of the complex religious realities of the time, in which Jacob's worship of only one deity surely seemed odd to his neighbors. The book contains some very violent scenes and plenty of explicit discussion of childbirth and sex. Its portrayal of these aspects of ancient nomadic life, though, is surely accurate. I highly recommend the book for anyone wishing to better understand the cultural context of the biblical stories of Israel's ancestors. The first two thirds of the book are set in northern Mesopotamia and in Canaan while the last section is set in Egypt. The material on Egypt, while well informed, is not as compellingly narrated as the earlier sections. I found the last chapter unconvincing, but perhaps that's a matter of personal taste. I'll let you decide.
Rating:
Summary: The Red Tent is a winner!
Review: When I first picked up the novel "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, I was hesitant: Could I be interested in a book about the bible? The answer: Yes. This book was so beautifully written.
The story of Dinah is compelling in nature and truly brings a new view to what the bible may have left out or a theory about the lives of women during that time era. I don't think that it is anti-male at all, and anyone who is looking to correct biblical "facts" should not read this novel.
It is a book that stays with you. People who are in the online group book club that I'm in loved it and feel moved by it like I do. It is not a book of facts. It is a book for people with imagination, a heart, and an open soul.
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