The Red Tent

I am typing with my oldest, Abigail--who is three, sitting and singing to me. She wanted to type something, so here is her offering: qadsrulkmnnbvcxzf. I asked her what she was writing and she told me, "I'm not writing anything, I'm spelling." :) I thought that was kinda appropo for this months selection.

ANYWAY!!! I just finished, The Red Tent, and have decidedly mixed feelings about it. Though the review is early, I wanted to write while it was still fresh on my mind.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was certainly an easy read, and I thought that from the very beginning. It consistantly had the feel of a gathering of women in the Red Tent, gossiping and telling stories. And I love books with that feminine conspiritorial tone--it reminds me of a book on communication by Deborah Tannen, where she said that women talk and share in a spirit to gain consensus and empathy, and I found this true throughout the book. I loved the detail of what life may have been like back in the day, and it's always fascinating to see interpretations of that life based on the author's own background.

But what a sad, angry little book! I guess by the end, I'm supposed to feel some sort of peace, too, because Dinah had made some form of peace in getting on with her life, but I didn't. Hmmmmmmm.

So, I wondered at Diamant's own upbringing--knowing that simply by her faith and biography, she is keenly aware of the Old Testament, traditions, and forefathers--and wondering at her associations with her religion as well as the men in her life. She...almost demonize some of the men of the Old Testament, if that makes sense, and I wondered how truly just that was. I also wonder if there was any resentment on her part from her own subconscious life that came out in her book, via her female protagonist, or if she was just trying to remind the readers that no one is perfect, regardless of how kind history (and scriptures) reflects them. Still, it seems that almost everyone in the book, besides Dinah and the midwives, had something very negative thing about them.

Here's where the decidedly mixed feelings come in...I felt I was reading (argh!!!! There is a word for it that is escpaing me at the moment) history being re-written, and I wanted to say, Cite your Source!!!! Of course, this is a work of fiction, but I'm sure there are people who are now colored by it. Sooooo, this is why I have the mixed feelings. Easy easy to read, but people will now believe that all the women of the past worshipped other gods, had other beliefs and rituals that they clung to even while pretending to honor their husband's god (not that some didn't, I'm just saying that surely...from what we know... there were female believers of El). I dunno...it was really an angry feminine perspective--which, Dinah had every reason to be, but I didn't like the characterizations of some of these historical figures (Rebecca "the Grandmother" springs to mind. I just kept thinking, Really now...) . Once again, I wanted there to be some sort of footnote proving that why "The Grandmother" was sooooooo...weird. I guess that is the beauty of fiction, though. You can paint people in different light and then just say, "Well, I made it up." I also didn't appreciate the fact that Jacob's men were punished simply because Dinah put a curse on them...oh, uh huh.

I do appreciate that Diamant wanted to show how hard life was back in the day, that there were soooooo many dieties to choose from. That there were class levels and cultural differences on so many levels (countrymen, different countries, men/women, children, even girls on the verge of womanhood) that we forget about, here in our comfortable lives. But I think that this book lacked...truth on some level. Maybe that's what it was. My faith and belief did color my perspective as I read this account.

Sooooo, overall: thought it was a great choice for the book club. Very easy to read, I got into it right away. Didn't care for some of the fictionalization of characters that I feel differently about, but did appreciate the overall message of surviving and of the bonds that women have simply because they are women.

:) Laurenda

I FINISHED ON TIME!

Ladies,

I, like KT and Laurenda, had a hard time getting into this book. In fact, at about page 86 I wasn't sure I was going to make it. However, once I got into it, it was a great story. I really wanted to figure out what the Havenites were up to and what Honor was going to do about it. (I love the name . . . "Honor." So appropriate. It's also KT's and my great-great grandmother's name. She was a survivor, too. A single mom in England with three sons and a daughter to raise. The name added to my connection with the heroine.) I also enjoyed the political and historical allusions.

I, like Katrina, did some skimming over what my son, Jeff, calls "techno babel" such as "If they pop out of hyper right at the hyper limit on a reciprocal of Sirius's present course . . ." I kind of rolled my eyes, especially when it went on for pages. I just wanted to get on with the story.

I also thought Laurenda hit it right on with her comment about the language . . . why should our curse words have survived gazillions of years and a plague to show up in Honor's world? I thought the language was gratuitous.

But all-in-all it was an enjoyable read. Thanks, Katrina!

Girl Power

There's nothing that annoys me more than reading or watching helpless female characters. Women can do more than wait for the big, strong man to save her. So, I really appreciated Katrina's explanation about Honor's importance. Being a fan of strong female characters like Buffy, Sidney Bristow (Alias), Veronica Mars, etc., I was happy to see another strong female character.

Like Laurenda, however, I found it difficult to get started. Being a Star Wars fan, I was sure I would be OK with this book. However, I found the pages devoted to the evolution of the Warshawski drive, for example, tedious. At other times, there were terms and references that I would have appreciated knowing something about, so I was easily confused at the beginning of the book (maybe that just says something about me).

I liked Honor. I liked the way she handled her crew. She was tough, but she never berated them - which in the end earned their respect. I really liked how she overcame the disadvantages that people heaped upon her (Admiral Hemphill and Pavel Young come immediately to mind). I liked all the characterizations in the book. Although he sometimes frustrated me, I understood McKeon. I really like Dame Estelle. I appreciated that there were other women in leadership positions on Fearless (i.e. Dominica Santos), and that Honor wasn't the only strong female involved.

I'll just touch lightly on the language. I have a harder time reading foul language than hearing it. Is that weird? I will say that the language during the battle scenes was realistic, but I don't have to like it. ;-)

Here's my biggest question from the book. How can there be a Navy in space? Doesn't a Navy require water? How can spaceships have sails?

Thanks, Katrina, for suggesting a book that I wouldn't have purchased myself. That's what I love about this book club. I get to read books that take me out of my reading zone.