Reviews for The Red Tent

The average rating for The Red Tent based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-12-23 00:00:00 John Verdon The Red Tent is (very) loosely based on the story of Dinah in Genesis, and it is a book that is very easy to read. Dinah's tale is one that deserves fleshing out; in the Bible it is an interesting though undeveloped and uncertain chronicle. The author does a fairly decent job of developing her female characters, but her male characters are largely flat, stereotypical, and unnecessarily negative. In the Bible, the characters of Jacob and Joseph are more well-rounded; they are humans with both faults and virtues, moments of greatness and of pettiness. In Diamant's novel, we largely see only one side to these men--the downside. We never get any sense that they are worth caring about, that there is any emotion within in them that we, as readers, can relate to. The narrator states that Jacob was devastated by Joseph's reported death, but we have no reason to believe it, since the author has neither developed nor depicted any love or affection between them. Although Diamant seems to be developing something interesting in the nature of Judah, she quickly drops the matter. The author unnecessarily, I believe, alters some segments of the Biblical narrative. She even suggests that the significant, divine naming of Israel (a true milestone in the Jewish story) was nothing more than Jacob's cowardly choice to change his name so as not to be associated with the slaughter in Schechem. When Rachel steals her father's household idol in the novel, Jacob seems both to know and yet not to care (at least for a long time). In the Bible, however, he thinks no one among him has taken it, and he basically says, "If anyone took it, let him die," in effect unknowingly cursing his beloved wife, who does die later in childbirth. Had Diamant not altered this point, it might have made for some wonderful pathos in the novel. Despite being written by a Jewish author, The Red Tent is in many ways an expression of a growingly popular modern neo-paganism, which incorporates the myth of the universal, goddess/Mother, feminist ideology, and a sort of body/self worship. I don't complain that Anita Diamant made some of the characters pagan; it is clear from the Bible that many early pre Israelites were, and of course, the Israelites themselves were always sliding back to idol worship. But in The Red Tent, Jacob appears to be the only monotheist in the world (and even his monotheism is on shaky grounds). What is more, polytheism almost seems to be portrayed as a healthy, feminine alternative to the somewhat deranged patriarchal religion of Jacob's fathers (an idea that does not comport too well with the actual historical treatment of women in cultures that embrace polytheism and goddess worship).

Review # 2 was written on 2008-06-07 00:00:00 Foo Kee Yong I was at Border's Express one day searching for a little something to curl up in a chair with for an extended period of time. When I was approached by a clerk asking me if I needed help with anything, I KNOW, WEIRD!, right? Customer service? Who knew it even existed anymore? Anywho, I made my desire known to the saleswoman and she points me to this... I immediately think to myself, "Oh crap! a religious book!" I know I'm taking a chance at offending the church goers among you, but let's not throw stones... Think totally oppressed religious upbringing, among the most offensive group of hypocrites you can imagine and perhaps you can cut me some slack... Okay, so back to the book. Being the 'uber-polite, can't imagine offending someone to their face' type of woman that I am... Just consider it a given that I would've bought the book no matter how much it cost. Quite simply because I knew this gal would be ringing me up at the register and I just couldn't allow her to think I didn't trust her judgment, especially after asking for her advice! So I schlepped home with my 'religious' book... And you know what? I LOVED it! What an amazing story of the courage, determination and resiliency of women. Hey, just try to imagine what it would be like to be thrown into a cramped tent, with a plethora of other menstruating women, in a time when tampons had yet to be invented. The hormones alone in that one tent, make it completely understandable as to why the men steered clear and thought it best to risk their lives in the dessert in search of food, even if the 'food' ate them first! Seriously though, this book will make you proud to be a woman. I recommend reading it while you have your period... It'll make you cry. There are so many other books I've read that I'd like to mention, but this post is already long and I haven't yet gotten to the good part...