The Red Tent

TrickyFiction

Who?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
1,123
Reaction score
146
Location
on the precious Pacific.
Anyone else read this? Care to commiserate? Did you cry as much as I did or am I really lame?

I even wrote about it in my journal: "I finally read The Red Tent, which, I am ashamed to admit, left me wallowing in bed in a puddle of my own tears. Dear god. I knew what was going to happen; I went to Sunday School. I know all about Dinah. I even knew this particular author's slant on the story. But I didn't know I would actually care about these characters enough to feel it like I did. Kudos to Anita Diamont for so much research, gorgeous writing, and making me weep over something I was sure I would find incredibly dull."

I'm wondering how other people felt about this retelling of a much older story.
 

Lauren

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2008
Messages
69
Reaction score
9
Location
central PA
Website
www.LaurenRBamberger.com
I read it several years ago and remember liking it but not much else... I'm thinking I might have to read it again after your post about crying. I just can't remember now. Okay, off to dig out my copy... it's here somewhere.
 

HeronW

Down Under Fan
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
6,398
Reaction score
1,854
Location
Rishon Lezion, Israel
I enjoyed The Red Tent immensely. It's nice to have a POV from the subject character rather than the ancilliary family, the mores of the time, the politics, etc.
 

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
4,527
Reaction score
1,182
Location
Ottawa, Canada and Spring City, PA
Website
janetursel.com
This is on my TBR list. Despite being a woman, I'm not generally a fan of women's fiction either, but that doesn't mean there aren't some outstanding works that will grab me. I'm not much a fan of action-packed thrillers, either, for what it's worth. Not sure what that says about me.

What would you guys say are the outstanding qualities of The Red Tent?
 

TrickyFiction

Who?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
1,123
Reaction score
146
Location
on the precious Pacific.
This is on my TBR list. Despite being a woman, I'm not generally a fan of women's fiction either, but that doesn't mean there aren't some outstanding works that will grab me. I'm not much a fan of action-packed thrillers, either, for what it's worth. Not sure what that says about me.

What would you guys say are the outstanding qualities of The Red Tent?

I've never had the inclination to read Women's Fiction either. I was a little worried this one would turn out to be kind of sappy or too PC. But I think that's because I equated it with a different novel I saw on my mother's bookshelf as a child, which turned out to be a biblical story turned into a romance. I love romantic stories, but I tend to not like it when the story IS the romance.

This book had so much story it was epic. I have no idea how the author kept it so interesting. If someone had told me what happened chapter by chapter, I wouldn't have read it. But the writing in itself sucked me in and kept me there. It also tied me to the main character so well. I was never bored with her, even though the book follows her from pre-birth do death.
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
15,640
Reaction score
6,849
Location
Last Star on the Right
Website
www.jenniferdahl.com
I was drawn to it by the chance to read about the relationships between the women and how they respond to and interact with one another in the 'Red Tent' with no men around. Until the gospels of Mary Magdalen, it was as close to a feminine POV of that time period as I could get.
 

jennifer75

SupahStah!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
2,558
Reaction score
3,228
Location
So Cal
It's on my shelf, borrowed from a coworker. I tried starting it about a year ago but couldn't get more than a few pages in. Way too many characters in the first few pages, I got confused.

I have a feeling I should try again?
 

vixey

C'est la vie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
3,020
Reaction score
3,403
Loved this book (several years ago) and I highly recommend it. Though it's fiction, I believe it paints an accurate picture of a woman's life in Old Testament times. Prepare to be shocked.
 

Cranky

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Messages
14,945
Reaction score
8,145
I love this book. One of my favorites. I'd try again to read it, Jennifer. :)
 

CaroGirl

Living the dream
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
8,368
Reaction score
2,327
Location
Bookstores
I loved it. Although I remember liking the first half better than the second half. Why, I can't recall. I found it fascinating, the characters and their lifestyle, the story, the depiction of the period. Just great, really.

Janet: I have a copy if you want to borrow it, unless you can't wait until the New Year. :)