Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I expected
Review: I was told this is an excellent book but did not find it to be that great. The second half was more interesting than the first half. I think what I liked least about it was the author's writing style. To me it seemed plain and boring. I have read so many books that I could not put down but this was not one of them. It was not a bad book - I was able to finish it with no problem - but it certainly was not great in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: The Red Tent
Review: This was a great novel! I wasn't judging the book to be accurate to the bible, but read it as a fictional story of history. I truly enjoyed the content and it gave a different view of what women may have went through at that time. I read this in a weekend.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiction for Fictions sake
Review: Many problems abound in this fictionalized account of a Biblical story. In the Red Tent we are supposedly told the story from Dinah's point of view and apparently learn the true life of the women in the bible. Apparently this is to make up for the lack of women in the bible. Unfortunatly this thesis is false, the Torah and Tanakh abound with strong women(unlike other holy books). Remember Deborah who gathered her armies or Esther who saved the Jews or Judith who cut the head of Holofernes. Now the Red Tent's main problem is its obsession with Paganism, almost as if the author set out to make fun of the Torah and monotheism. This is terribly insulting and ruins the story because it makes this book seem overtly political, an assault on religion. The most fantastic parts of this book include the distortions. The Bible tells of Jacobs long 7 years of work to marry his wives yet this book makes it 7 months. Why? To fit the feminist narrative and make Jacob seem a small brutish male. Next the book distorts the story of Dinah. Dinah is only mentioned briefly in the bible and she is mentioned as a victim of a rape, her brothers in turn raze the city to the ground where the rapists originated. But in the 'Red Tent' Dinah says she enjoyed the rape, this typical feminist twist is odd because it almost indicates that rape should not be punished and in fact that Dinah wanted to be raped because she 'went out'. This caustic analysis harms the story and casts further insult upon the Biblical narrative. The use of Paganism in the 'Rent Tent' is a totally fabricated incident, insinuating that all Jewish women worshipped dozens of gods and not the 'god of jacob'. Meanwhile the pagan gods run the gamit, some never existed at the time of Jacob and some were involved in child sacrifice, so why didn't the women in the tent sacrifice Dinah? If the author wanted to write a book glorifying rape and paganism then why didn't she just make up a story why did she fabricate and assault a biblical text?
Rating:
Summary: Much better than any bible story!
Review: This book rang true as to what a woman's life might have been like in the time period and places that Dinah lived. This book left me breathless with it's characters depth of feeling and emotion. It's a book I almost did not read because it was based on the bible where men somehow beget children all on their own *l* I thought it would be more of the same, but I was very wrong. The Red Tent was beautiful and moving, and it reminded me very much of The Mysts of Avalon. There are so many stories that are supposedly historical truth or even myths about the human race where somehow there are no *real * women, but only dumb things with teats. Authors like Diamant, and Marion Zimmer Bradely (Mysts of Avalon) have taken these bare bones of stories and fleshed them out so others could see the women in them, the stories that might have been if all the authors had not been men. They give us the women that were somehow omitted and forgotten, everywhere but in our hearts. If you read The Red Tent hoping for a dry bible story you will not be happy, but if you read it looking for truth in the empty spaces of missing pages you will not be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Blatant inaccuracies kill suspension of disbelief, story
Review: This is one more review among a thousand....The book is well written, no qualms about that. The female characters are engaging, the male characters brutish. Reverence for the gift of life well detailed, as well as many, many pagan rituals. Libations to Asherah poles and worship of gods and goddesses were well detailed, and the acrifices to the God of Jacob considered wasteful of flesh (I wonder if Ms. Diamont unintentionally left out the documented sacrifices of children to the Asherah poles?). I noticed the incredible amount of liberty taken with the story (Rachel's and Leah's bride price to be seven months vice years) and paints nearly all the males in a very bad light. Jacob chases sheep around in his older years, and moves from a strong, beautiful man to a stupid brute like the women's father. The brothers were murderous (which is well documented), one of them takes up with his aunt, Joseph prefers the company of boys, and the name of God "becomes the worst insult" a person can spit. Generally a well-written story, but some of the characters are vague and typecast which keeps it from total suspension of disbelief. I threw the book away, into the garbage. One of the only times in my life I have. And I will not recommend it either, just on those merits described above. However, I found myself offended that a major force that moves the characters in the book, namely, the God of Jacob is rarely mentioned, and when He is, painted in a barbaric light. The tenets of Judaism and Christianity are non-existent, but complicated pagan rituals are. The house gods were worshipped, to be sure, but after the God of Jacob (aptly named) made himself known, the paganism stopped in that camp. The poetic license is phenomenal, and skewers the story to its very basic levels, rewriting history to fit, labeled fiction. I must agree with another reviewer, would we have excused as fiction odious labels to Ghandi or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? As a new student to serving the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Lord Jesus Christ, I find this retelling of a famous story to be bent beyond recognition to the point of being farcical, which diminishes the one major good point it had, which is being well-written.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining fiction
Review: I am 75% of the way into the book so far and wanted to go ahead and post my opinion, and I agree with the others that it is a women's book. My husband would hate it. I believe in God and His divine wisdom, but I'm not religious, I don't go to church, and I haven't read the Bible. However, I do teach in a Catholic school (you don't have to be Catholic to teach in a Catholic school), so I'm not ignorant of these issues either. I wasn't real familiar with Rachel, Jacob, or the rest of the cast of characters from the Bible before I began reading The Red Tent, so I enjoyed it simply as a work of fiction. From what I know about the time period, the setting seems accurate. Men were the protectors and decision-makers, and women had kids, cooked meals, and served the men. That is how it was. Heck, it's still like that in many third-world countries! I was not insulted by the book's message. I thank God we don't live in a world like that anymore, but I can enjoy reading what life was probably like 2,000 years ago. I recommend the book as a piece of fiction, not a political essay on the mistreatment of women or a violation of sacred text.
Rating:
Summary: Judaic paganism at its best
Review: I finished the book this morning. I was stunned. Yes, it was well written -- but I'm afraid that's all the good that can be said for it. If you're looking for embellishment of the Old Testament account of Jacob, Leah, Rachel and of Dinah, forget it. This wasn't embellishment -- it was poetic license gone mad. Jacob work for seven years to marry Rachel? Aw, heck -- Ms. Diamant apparently didn't believe any man could *possibly* love a woman *that* much -- and just cut it down to seven months. Dinah raped by a prince (and the subsequent revenge of Jacob's sons)? She got the revenge part down -- but, well, Dinah actually didn't get *raped* -- she immensely enjoyed the whole incident. According to the author, that is. (Poor Dinah). What is interesting is that this book is being hailed as a "new look at an old story". In fact, it doesn't do that at all -- it makes a mockery of it all instead. Jacob is originally portrayed as a nice guy turned idiot. His "god" (as the author puts it) is barely mentioned and, when He is, grossly insulted (a huge chip on the shoulder of the author, perhaps?) Who *is* mentioned repeatedly, however, is probably every damn silly pagan god in that area at the time -- and the worship of them is portrayed as noble. How's this: Dinah ends up in Egypt, apparently forgets her own Judaic gods, and starts worshipping the Egyptian gods instead. Hey, whatever god happens to be handy, I guess. No wonder the God of Moses became popular. One last note: the red tent is where women went to have their menses and give birth and do woman stuff. Sounds like a great idea. But again, the reason for doing so is based on paganism. (There was a god for the first menses, a god for birth, a god for this, that, blah blah blah). Take away the pagan gods, and the whole reason for the red tent ceases to exist. Bottom line: If you are a believer of either the Judaic or Christian faith, prepare to be insulted by this book. (If you're Pagan, you'll love it). And really, do we even *need* red tents anymore? Of course not. Now pass the Midol.
Rating:
Summary: The very best piece of literature
Review: I remarked to my husband and others after I read this book that I felt enriched having read it. My husband asked me how it had changed my life and my only response was that it was such a great piece of literature that it enveloped me and compelled me to share it with others. This is a truly amazing book. At first it bothered me that I needed to constantly refer to the family hierarchy Anita Diamant so thoughtfully included with the book. By the fourth chapter I was totally enveloped; the characters were so richly developed that I no longer needed the reference. These characters were so real to me; I felt their pain and their joy. Have I mentioned that this is the very best book I have ever read? I compel you to read it and enjoy it. This is literature at its' very best (and this comes from a well-read person)!!!
Rating:
Summary: (this is not going to be a popular review)
Review: I have read hundreds of books. I have started, but not finished, thousands. Almost always it's because I lose interest in the book for one reason or another. This is the first book ever that I have thrown down in disgust and refused to read any more. It wasn't because it's a "woman's book." Most of my favorite authors are women. I can see the value in the repeated awe-filled descriptions of birth and menstruation. I can see how these are mystic experiences, though by the third or fourth or fifth birth, I admit I grew a little weary of the repetition. It did perturb me a bit that, while the women were colorful, complex, well-rendered characters, the men were cardboard brutes. But men have written women in the same manner for centuries, so even if it's an intentional feminist choice instead of the author's weakness, it's understandable, forgiveable. No, that's not why I quit reading. It wasn't the Biblical inaccuracies. Though they are so plentiful and obvious it seems like it would have just been simpler for Ms. Diamant to change her characters' names and written about a contemporary of Dinah, Leah and Rachel. I don't know enough to judge the accuracy of Ms. Diamant's rendering of the time period, but it is convincing and captivating. Eventually, I stopped thinking, "wait a minute...that's not the way it happened," and just let the author tell her story her way. Actually, I'm kind of glad she did as she did; the people in Genesis are mean and nasty to each other, and wouldn't be much fun to read about. With a few changes, Ms. Diamant takes Rachel and Leah and their horrible rivalry and changes it into something respectable, even admirable. It wasn't the worshipful adoration of paganism, though it's true that bugged me almost to the point of quitting. I know it's true that Rachel and Leah et al probably worshipped gods other than the God of Jacob. But while Ms. Diamant may have the freedom to change the details of the Genesis account to fit her story, but surely she owes some thematic debt to the original telling - whether you consider it simple literature or a sacred text. If there's one major theme you take away from the history of the people of Israel that's called the Bible, it's that pagan gods are their bane, their major weakness. When they get rid of them, they prosper. When they bring them back, they suffer. To treat this bane with such reverence, awe, and admiration is to mock the original work itself. But while this irked me, I lived with it; perhaps she worships pagan gods herself, and desires to rewrite their role in the history of her people (From the titles of her nonfiction books, I'm pretty sure she's Jewish.) OK, understandable. I'll disagree, but I'll keep reading. No, what caused me to throw the book down in disgust was this line in particular: "...'You serve the God of Jacob' was one of the worst insults one man could hurl at another for many generations." After making Jacob into a weak, violent coward, after (through her narrator) cursing him and all his children and all their children, after taking every major interaction Jacob has with his God and making it ugly and base, she makes the name of God a vile curse in the mouth of the people of the land. What if I were to sit down and write a fictional account of Gandhi and make him a murderer, a liar, a coward, make all his actions not motivated by a higher ideal, but by lust, or greed? Would it matter that this book was fiction and didn't claim to be anything else, or would it still be offensive? Would it even be worth reading, or would you write it off as propaganda and reactionism? I have no illusions about Jacob or his sons -- even the Biblical account of them is far from flattering, and they are not my heroes -- but through this telling, Ms. Diamant has managed not only to spit on their names, but also on the name of the God of Jacob whom they serve.
I, too, serve the God of Jacob. And, Ms. Diamant, if you were intending to insult me and my people with this book, you have done so. I'm just astounded so few have noticed.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: I LOVED this book. I've always been a fan the Jacob and 12 sons story from the bible (I think the fact that I saw the broadway play 3 times had something to with it!) so seeing the story from Dinah's perspective was fun! Anyhow, this book is really fabulous. I have recommended it to so many friends and they've all love it. I'm not a huge reader and for me to feel the way I do about this book, it must really be something! Enjoy!!
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