Rating: 
Summary: If Joseph had a sister
Review: This book is a fine read. Though rather long, it is based on the best known plot in the world. I like the historical/biblical skeleton with a sister filling in the spots. I felt I was learning much about the times and customs of these people, and I enjoyed the unique point of view. Diamont will be on my list of authors to read.
Rating:
Summary: if only paris had known
Review: everything i can reach
is on the shelf behind the bleach
and it's dirty back there;
i can just get a finger on it,
draw it slowly out with care not spill it.
what toast could be proposed
would wreck the collected works.
the cup was all that, was faberge,
was cellini, was funded in part through the sale
of the three largest mediterranean islands.
what filled that cup
was the one thing
that made puppies of heroes
and made the sailing fleets
of the portuguese, english and spaniards
no more important than bath toys.
can you imagine...?
the first menses of helen of troy.
Rating:
Summary: Writing at its Best
Review: THE RED TENT is what all fiction should be: powerful, beautifully written, brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed. It is a work that approaches genius. What an imagination Anita Diamant boasts! It is difficult to understand how she even came up with the concept. As her notes at the end of the work indicate, her research and her scholarship are of the highest order. This would be a particularly difficult opus for any author, to take a first-person narrative, told in hindsight and with a minimum of dialogue, and set it approximately 5700 years in the past. Yet Diamant's characters seem as fresh and real as one's next-door neighbor. Again, what an imagination! Her "heroine," Dinah, was the only daughter of the biblical Jacob to have survived to adulthood. Jacob was the son of Issac, grandson of Abraham, brother of Esau, father of the Joseph of "The Coat of Many Colors." Women, it is obvious, were an afterthought to the information handed down about these patriarchs and prophets. Yet THE RED TENT is Dinah's story, the story of a person who was a footnote to history, just as Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern were footnotes to HAMLET. In both cases, authors with fertile imaginations have plumbed the lives of these minor characters for their significance. In Dinah's case, Ms. Diamant reveals the truth about the story of Jacob. In Sunday school, we are taught about his being tricked into marriage with one sister, Leah, when it was the younger girl, Rachel, whom he had loved. So this book solved a mystery I had wondered about all these years, what had happened to Leah when Jacob finally married Rachel. In THE RED TENT, I finally learned that Jacob, in keeping with the custom of the times, had two wives plus two concubines. No, my teachers never mentioned that detail. Life then was very hard, another fact which is glossed over in Biblical study, but which should seem obvious when contemplated. Ms. Diamant exhibits just how difficult it was, in every way, by modern standards. There was no notion of sanitation, no medications, women frequently died in childbirth, dental care was six millennia in the future, etc. Even if a reader understood all of this before reading THE RED TENT, Ms. Diamant demonstrates these realities with heart-stopping detail. These people were so primitive that, properly, they were not Israelites; perhaps they should be known as Canaanites or Semites. Still, from them flowed monotheism, leading directly to the Jewish religion which, in turn, gave rise to both Christianity, in all its permutations, as well as Islam. Yet the reader of THE RED TENT will find it unavoidable to examine the entire meaning of religion once it is set into it this framework of the concepts which fostered it. Ms. Diamant deserves the highest commendations for THE RED TENT, on every basis: concept, execution and prose. This book is the highest category of fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Worth your time to read!
Review: I read this book because it was selected by our Book Club. Turned out to be up being one of our group's favorite titles. Beautifully written, the story flows seamlessly. It ended much too soon for me. While it is "midrash", it is a joy to read. I found myself pulling out my bible to see what had been written there. Diamant has created a wonderful novel for women -- share your copy!
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Summary: Diamant gives a voice to biblical women
Review: Dinah, the only daughter of biblical patriarch, Jacob, is mentioned only briefly in the thirty-fourth chapter of Genesis. Anita Diamant lifts this obscure woman from the pages of the Bible and gives her a voice. I believe THE RED TENT will become a woman's book; however, men don't let me dissuade you from reading it-it is well worth a masculine read. In THE RED TENT, Diamant develops a loyalty and a community among her women that modern women have long since lost. Their daily lives are unavoidably intertwined. They share the responsibilities normally assigned to women as well as sharing a husband. Diamant does not leave her women without faults, but in general they are literally and figuratively virtuous characters; however, many of her men are not represented in the highest regard. Jacob becomes a man of questionable character and does not appear godly at all. His sons are depicted as purely barbarian. Diamant does treat the men outside Jacob's clan a bit better. Other than the extreme embellishment of Joseph's character, I do not have a problem with Diamant's imagination. I believe this book is a good source for a movie, and I strongly recommend reading it-with one caveat: fiction is fiction, historical or not. It would be beneficial to read the primary source in Genesis first. There are only a few chapters that cover the period between Jacob and Joseph, and, by reading the biblical account first, the reader will truly appreciate Anita Diamant's skill as a writer of historical fiction.
Rating:
Summary: splendid!
Review: THE RED TENT is absolutely splendid! I have recommended it to all of my friends and then some! I simply could not put it down. From the very first words to the last, the story of Dinah and her mothers is nothing less than incredible. Though NOT a religous book, it is very spiritual and uplifting. This is one story that should remind all women of the marvels and gifts of womanhood. Enjoy!
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Summary: Very Interesting look into the biblical times
Review: I enjoyed reading about the lifestyle of people during OT times, but felt, as many other reviewers have noted, that Diamant is a somewhat lazy writer. The book is entirely written from the point of view of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and yet she uses contractions and cliches that would never have been spoken by a woman of the times, such as "...he preferred the garment his mother had made for him over the dull (stuff) that men were given to wear. I (couldn't) tell if he was (putting on a brave front) or really liked his finery." You could give her the benefit of the doubt and say she wanted the character to relate to the contemporary reader, except part of the time she does speak in a more structure tone. This amateurishness is really inexcusable, coming from a published writer. That said, I enjoyed the book for the most part.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo for a Great Story!
Review: I can only echo the words spoken by all those who reviewed this wonderful novel before me: it's captivating, refreshing and truly enjoyable. Having read so many disappointing books recently, it was such a treat to read a book where you care so much about the main character, where you really feel you know the characters - major and minor, and where you find yourself thinking about the book when you're not reading it. Done well, it can be very interesting to read an author's take on a well-known story or event told from a different vantage point (think John Gardner's Grendel). Ms. Diamant did an excellent job creating the historical times of the Bible but letting us see those times through new eyes and hear about the those times through a new voice. I am so pleased to have read this novel and highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Histroical Prose At Its Best
Review: The Red Tent was a wonderful start for this first time author. Mrs. Diamant lyrical prose vividly took me to the land of Cannan and the banks of the Nile. If you have an interest in biblical and historical literature then this book is for you. This rich book follows the life of a biblical character that is briefly mentioned in the bible. Dinah's story continues in The Red Tent where the bible left off. I enjoyed reading of the old ways of women, of friendships and relationships made and loss. The Red Tent is several books in one, it is a lesson in history, a women's study, and a love story all in one. If you are wanting a book that contains, betrayal, passion, romance and good writing that captures you and does not let you go until the last page then The Red Tent is for you.
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Summary: What a pleasant surprise!
Review: There has never been a book that has touched upon the very real (but unsung) roles females undoubtedly played during the years that the bible was written. This book reads like historical fiction; it is that convincing. The narrative voice is that of Dinah, as she states plainly, a woman not well represented in the writings of the bible. She goes on to tell of her mother's life, the tales of her sister-mothers', and her much anticipated birth. The stories woven and the lives intertwined by the author Anita Diamant are mystical, loving, painful, and I dare say enlightening. This novel will happily be shared and passed on from one woman to another...as it should be.
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