Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: This book was terrible! I really thought it would be a good Bible story but incredibly, it was a very poor one. It was good to learn that Jacob was a tender lover but a "sorry" father and leader. Oh, and Joseph had sex with men and was hated by all who worked with him. This was a book of fiction! There was no character development so when people died, I wasn't even sad. Remember, don't read this book if you want to read about God's chosen people; you'll end up wondering why they were chosen!
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, what wrong with me?
Review: I'm the only person I know who didn't love this book. Even people who I knew would hate it were charmed. I wish I knew why, because I suspect it might be a flaw in my own character that keeps me from fully enjoying this book.Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I read Genesis for the first time only a few years ago and I had unfair expectations. I thought "Gee, the story of Jacob would sure make a great novel." Imagine my joy when I found that someone had done just that. So, what it was like to wake up the day after your wedding and find that you married the wrong woman? Did Leah seeth with envy as she watch her sister led her people at their husband's side? How was Dinah looked upon by her tribe after she was rescued by her brothers? You won't find out here, because in the Red Tent, it never really happened that way. In fact very little happened exactly as it was set down in the Bible. The women aren't even followers of Jacob's faith, which must have been horrible PR for his career as God's chosen. The writing was beautiful, but the story seemed a little too close to the movie "Titanic" which I didn't particularly enjoy either. Maybe I just don't like getting in touch with my feminine side. (I'm a woman, by the way.) If I had trouble putting the book down it was because I felt more like an archiologist looking for bits of mangled history than a spellbound reader. Still, I attribute all my critisms to my uncultured tastes and not to Ms. Diamant's sparkling writing. I just happen to prefer the epics of Rutherford and Jennings to this lovely opus.
Rating: 
Summary: Like reading a biblical trash novel.
Review: Every person I knew praised this book. I thought to myself, why not, and give it a try. I felt that the idea behind it was good, but the literature read like reading a women's trash novel. I actually listened to this book on tape and at times I felt I had a soap opera on. If trash novels and soap operas aren't for you, skip this one.
Rating: 
Summary: An epic tale from the Old Testament
Review: My husband and I chose to read The Red Tent aloud because
novels with strong story lines are good for that kind
of reading. We've just finished it, and I would say
that it's more of an epic tale, the entire saga of a
woman's life (and beyond, for it begins before her
life on this earth does, and goes into the future, as
well). It is the story of Dinah, who is mentioned as
the daughter of Jacob in Genesis 34, and the terrible
tale of what happens to her contained there is
wonderfully retold in The Red Tent. First, I have to say, this is a "chick book." The
writer is very detailed about the life of women and
their bodies, and the book is very focused on the
wives of Jacob, and Dinah's part in this as she grows
up. But what I found the most interesting about this
was that even though Christians and Jews know Jacob in
the Bible as a patriarch of their religion, this book,
written by a woman who has penned such titles as
"Choosing a Jewish Life," "The New Jewish Baby Book"
and "How to be a Jewish Parent," is not focused on
religion or religious feeling. Dinah's mothers (Leah,
her biological mother, and the other three wives of
Jacob, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah) worship, some more
casually than others, various goddesses. Leah and
Rachel's father has family and household gods
(mentioned in Genesis), and the supernatural incident
of Jacob wrestling with the angel is very gently
glossed. I found Diamant's tone to be somewhat distant, and her
language a little cold, but by the end of the story, I
could see why the writer might have made a conscious
choice to do this. It befits an epic, one might say.
And her treatment of the event that is told in the
Bible about Dinah and her brothers' murders of the
Shechemites haunts the rest of the book as one might
be traumatized for life after witnessing an atrocity
in youth. I should also mention that the book is interesting on
an anthropological level, though, I do not know how
sure we can be of the accuracy of Diamant's
descriptions of life in the Middle East during Old
Testament times, but her acknowledgments give credit
to scholarly institutions, resources and colleagues. I
found this aspect of the book very engaging, and I
think it will inform my reading of the Old Testament
for some time to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Total Chick book!
Review: I would love for all my female friends to read this book, I could not put it down. I almost started from the beginning after I was done!
Rating:
Summary: Truer Than Fiction?
Review: As a student of Hebrew Scriptures, I expected that descrepencies between Diamant's work and Biblical story lines would disturb me. Instead I found her tale more plausable than not. Only one 30 verse chapter (Gen 34) is devoted to Diana. She is never mentioned again as Diana plaintively points out in THE RED TENT.
Other matriarchs, Sarah, Rebeccah, Leah, Rachael, Miriam, and Deborah are given more lines than this. The only actual contradiction is Gen 34:2 "Shechem...lay with her by force." It is no wonder that Diamant questions that a man who is willing to be circumsized, to order his kinsmen to be circumsized, and to pay a handsome bride price would be a rapist.
True to the character of the Hebrew Scriptures, "heros" are portrayed multi-dimensionally with both virtures and vices exposed. Diamant also displays a good understanding of the henotheistic origin of Judaism. Even 1000 years after Jacob's death, prophets like Elijah and Hosea were still battling polytheism. It is totally understandable that the woman of Haran, whose father did not worship the faceless EL, would want to take their idols with them, just as some modern-day Jews attempt to bring disguised Christmas trees into their homes.
What I liked best about the Red tent was that it connected me to "great mother spirit" in us all to help me weather the storms with my own 16 year old daughter. Innana lives!
Rating:
Summary: magical perspective
Review: I enjoyed this book from the start. This made the old testament seem new and fresh to me.
Rating:
Summary: Not at all what I expected
Review: I know that everyone raves about this book, but I just thought it was incredibly hard to stomach. For starters, it is poorly written and, at many points, seems contrived. The language is very basic, dull and uninteresting. At some points, she even attempts to throw in some old English to make it feel like Biblical times. Also, the plot line is really difficult to fathom. I am not saying that I disagree with anything she is saying, but, again, the book seems really commercial. It's almost as if an editor came up with the idea, put someone else to work and then forgot to pick someone literate enough to make a lucid point. She is clearly not someone who experienced college and the incredible torrents of college professors beating her essays and general writings to a pulp. Can anyone write a book these days? Maybe I should get started on my novel!
Rating:
Summary: Great book, a must read
Review: this is a great book...i loved it. it tells the story of dinah, a remarkable woman with a huge heart. from her mothers stories to her life, this is a wonderful book. Anita Diamant, you have written an amazing book.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Book I've Read in a long time!
Review: This book is a truly insightful and amazing look into life during biblical times.... from a woman's point of view. Beautifully researched and wonderfully descriptive, you truly begin to feel as if you are living in that time period with Dinah and her family when you read this book. The tension, pain, loneliness and joys are truly palpable. Although we will never know just how accurate this piece of fiction is, I enjoyed the ride immensely. I was sorry to reach the final page.
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