The Red Tent by anita diamant

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

I loved this book. It was so interesting to read about and imagine the cultures Anita wrote about. I loved the circle of women and the support they provided for each other. There was a lot of drama woven in and it was really interesting. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I think it could've been edited better - it meandered in parts. But still a great read.

DO NOT SEE THE MOVIE. I happened upon while staying at a hotel and was mortified with how overly dramatic it was written and acted. Some of the actors of course were very good, but felt the script left out so much of the nuances. As in most movies made from books.

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Fr3yz_

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

Great read!!!

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KrugerTheKant

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

For me, this is a book that is hard not to like. Last month, I and some friends here in Goodreads agreed to read the Bible for 12 months. Most of us are now on the seventh book, Judges and so far, my favorite is still Genesis. The reason is that there are just too many interesting events in it and so many unforgettable characters whose stories can be told and retold many times but we will not be tired hearing about them.

One of these stories is that of Isaac and Sara who have two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob steals the firstborn title from Esau with the help of Sara. Later Jacob meets Laban, the businessman. In Laban's place, there are 4 single women: Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah. All of these become Jacob's wives giving him his 12 sons and only one daughter: Dinah. Her name is only mentioned ONCE in the Bible. Diamant took interest on her name and thought of all that could happen to her. She did not change anything in the backdrop story. She only extended and expanded what she thought could have been the untold story and she did it beautifully.

It is an easy read. Something that you can do while in a busy Starbucks outlet listening to rich kids discussing their term papers and school projects. I finished the bulk of this book the other night while waiting for my daughter from her band practice. This could have earned more stars from me had Diamant been more descriptive in her narration. I also felt that she put too much emphasis on her female characters. All the male characters were delineated with secondary roles which are all flat and unfeeling. This made the rampaging and horrendous mass murder committed by Simon and Levi in the palace too unbelievable to get any sympathy from me for Dinah. I thought that the life-long curse and her going back to the palace is too melodramatic that I felt like watching an corny movie hoping to get an Oscar nomination for an overacting aspiring actress.

Overall, I liked it. Not jumping up and down though.

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randombot

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

A stunning saga that gives voice to one of histories most fascinating and mysterious women. Through lush and stirring prose, we see the ancient ways of womanhood, storytelling, love, and grief, and how the ties that bind us are more vital and lasting than we realize. We wonder along with Dinah: what does love truly mean? When does forgiveness become an option? At what price do we pursue pride and desire? Who is telling our stories? How do we begin to reveal the truth? Gorgeous, tragic, and graceful, the Red Tent is a tribute to the heart and soul, to dreams and desire, to truth.

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facu6789

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

I'll have to think about this...I may go back and add another star, depending on what stays with me. I think if I wasn't reading this book through a Latter-day Saint lens, I would have given it four stars, because the prose is absolutely gorgeous.
This is the story of Dinah, the sister of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Levi, Joseph, Benjamin, etc., etc. You know, the twelve sons of Jacob. It is written by Anita Diamant, and does a wonderful job of giving motivation to all the things that happen from the time Jacob meets Rachel through where Simeon (she calls him Simon) and Levi kill Dinah's husband.

She also does a beautiful, heart-tenderizing job of tying each of us as women to the concourse of womanhood from the beginning of time. My friend gave me this book for Christmas. As I read about the ties of womanhood, I realize what she was thinking of as she gave me this book, for she and I, and she and my mother, and I and her mother are all tied together by many of the red strings that Ms Diamant speaks of. The reason I had to put off reading it for five months is that I've been teaching a class in Old Testament, and since it's been about fifteen years since I've taught the class, or even studied the Old Testament, I've not had discretionary time to read. However, it was a wonderful segue into this book. The scenes in the King James Version are still fresh in my mind, and I was able to appreciate how she wove them in.

However, her treatment of Joseph has left a bad taste in my mouth. Though she has the tale come from an enemy of Joseph's, the word is that he bedded Potipher's wife, rather than the story we get in Genesis. In that and in other things she paints him as an opportunist and hints that he is gay.

But then, that is Dinah talking, and she never has forgiven her brothers. But, listen to one of her final paragraphs: Egypt loved the lotus because it never dies. It is the same for people who are loved. Thus can something as insignificant as a name--two syllables, one high, one sweet--summon up the innumerable smiles and tears, sighs and dreams of a human life.

Ah, what the heck. I'll give it four stars. That's what will stay with me.

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sam_matt

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

I thought the first half of The Red Tent was very compelling. I liked the focus on the female relationships - a complex web of love, teamwork and jealousies - and enjoyed seeing the story behind the story we know. My favourite parts were near the beginning when we learn about Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah growing up and becoming Jacob's wives, and their subsequent forays into motherhood.

Unlike some readers, I had no problem with the female-centric feel to the novel. In fact, it seems like a funny and strange criticism when considering that this book sets out to offer a female perspective on a story that pretty much ignored women for centuries. I think The Red Tent might not work for you so much if you're reading as a fan of the biblical story and don't want to explore perspectives that change the way we view certain characters. As a nonreligious reader, though, I really enjoyed it.

Well, that is, until Dinah moves to Egypt and things became... mostly uninteresting. The truth is that, for me, Dinah's character paled in comparison to all the different and interesting personalities I found in the four sisters. I really like first-person narratives that focus on other characters - everything from Wuthering Heights to Tiger Lily - because it offers an up-close account whilst also viewing a number of characters equally. So I liked this book more when Dinah's narrative was not about her, but about her mothers.

The second half grew boring and tiring, and I honestly struggled to finish. It's a shame because I really loved the earlier chapters.

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