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Loading... The Red Tentby Anita Diamant
  
» 37 more Historical Fiction (51) Jewish Books (16) Five star books (214) Books That Made Me Cry (105) Female Protagonist (325) Favourite Books (1,117) 1990s (77) Unread books (319) Books Read in 2015 (1,732) A Novel Cure (290) Books Read in 2023 (3,304) Contemporary Fiction (60) My favourite books (81) Books tagged favorites (331) Women's Stories (80) No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) MsTera | Oct 10, 2023 |  I've always seen the characters in the Bible as almost perfect unblemished human beings...patient, kind, loving and always knowing and doing just what the Lord wanted them to do. But, in reality, the bit of harshness and imperfections in the character's that are well known characters of the Bible is probably more truth than not. After all, they are human beings, just like you and me. Speaking in the first person, as Dinah, herself, the author introduces so many characters into the story in such an easy fluid manner. I never once got lost and by the end of the very first chapter, I really felt like I knew the personalities of all four of Jacob's wives, who were, by the way, also his 1st cousins. Will soon watch the movie, "The Red Tent" to see how it compares to the book and will return to edit my review. UPDATE: The movie is very lacking! If I hadn't read the book first, I'm not so sure I would have understood everything in the movie. ( ) MissysBookshelf | Aug 27, 2023 | The writing is quite unclear. We are introduced to Zilpah the least important wife of Jacob. Zilpah was only a few months younger than Leah, and after Zilpah’s mother died, Adah gave them suck together. Are we supposed to assume this refers to breast feeding? Or lines like she was good the way milk is good; the way rain is good. What does that even mean? The dialogue flips from biblical lite to current language. “You think the world owes you anything? Don’t get too proud with me, you afterbirth, or I’ll send you back to your brother’s long knife.” Can we survive observations like “But on that day I was a girl ready for a man.”? The historical fiction sequences do ring true. In order to finalize Dinah’s marriage to Shalem, Shalem’s father King Hamor puts his hand under Jacob’s thigh and Jacob reciprocated by putting his hand on the King’s thigh. This was a custom of acknowledging circumcision—nothing sexual. When Jacob realizes both Shalem and Hamor are not circumcised, he insists before the marriage can be consummated. Despite this beloved novel’s reputation and twentieth year reprint, this was a miss for me. (  ) GordonPrescottWiener | Aug 24, 2023 | I was very familiar about the biblical story of Jacob/Leah/Rachel/Zilpah/Bilhah and their sons, but not about the daughter of the family, Dinah. And man, what a doozy of a story, especially comparing how Dinah story is prefaced in biblical text as opposed to how the pivotal story of Dinah's life is fictionalized/interpreted/couched here. I loved how the family life in Jacob's encampment is detailed from Dinah's perspective (rituals, stories, rivalries) as well as how the tale of Dinah's life after leaving her family unfolds. (  ) deslivres5 | Jun 19, 2023 | I enjoy the story more when I don't think of it as being based on The Bible versions of these characters - I prefer to hold them distinct, seperate. The main character, Dinah, is a wonderful voice for this story to be told through. Her story is woven with heavy emotions and experiences, both wonderful and nightmarish. Favourite line: Rachel's prescence was as powerful as the moon, and just as beautiful. ( )1  spiritedstardust | Dec 29, 2022 |
The Red Tent instantly drew me in from its very first paragraph. The narrative voice, that of Dinah, reminded me a lot of that of Margaret Atwood’s wonderful Penelopiad which I read last year. It was strong but slightly melancholy and conveyed the same idea of reclaiming the story of a marginal woman from a great male narrative, telling the story from a new, feminine perspective and revealing what ‘really’ happened. The red tent of the title is the separate tent set aside for the women where they go while menstruating to keep apart from the men. The Red Tent then is a very appropriate title as the book focused almost exclusively on feminine concerns: becoming a woman, giving birth and finding a husband. I appreciated this insight into their secret world and I liked the idea of telling a masculine story to recentre it around the women. Is contained inHas the adaptationInspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
The story of Dinah, a tragic character from the Bible whose great love, a prince, is killed by her brother, leaving her alone and pregnant. The novel traces her life from childhood to death, in the process examining sexual and religious practices of the day, and what it meant to be a woman. No library descriptions found. 
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.03)
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