The Red Tent

I had mixed emotions going into the book, and felt the same way at the conclusion. I belonged to another book club while we lived in Texas, and this was the book that was chosen shortly after I moved. I heard from a friend about the reaction of some of the ladies in the club. Some had stronger opinions (pornorgraphic, blasphemous) than others. I tend to be more open minded than some, but still, I was a little aprehensive about reading the book. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but I too had to go through the Old Testament version to seperate fact from fiction (speculation) in my mind.
I loved the idea of having the story written from a woman's point of view. Women truly do have a spiritual connection that eludes men. The whole idea of living in tents, in the middle of nowhere and sharing a husband makes me shudder. The women probably had to have a strong bond between them or else they would have torn each other to shreds. They seemed to have their own little intimate world that the men only played a small part in. I've always thought that it would be nice to have several women around to help take care of the kids, meals, housekeeping, etc., but I'm not woman enough to share a husband in the sexual sense.

Diamante has a great talent for painting such a complete picture without adding so many details that one loses interest. It was easy to visualize Dinah's surroundings, or to imagine what the other characters looked like.

I was somewhat offended by her portrayal of the male characters. I felt that she was a little too pro feminine. Diamante seems to have some serious issues with men, or at least with the biblical men. I'm sure that Laban wasn't perfect, but the author gave him almost every vice possible. Jacob had his faults too, but I don't believe that he changed his name to Israel out of shame. Joseph wasn't Potifers boy toy, nor was he sleeping with his mistress. I'm not sure that he was universally loved by everyone in Egypt, but I don't believe that he was mean and arogant either.

I really did like the book! The great thing about belonging to a book club is the opportunity to leave one's own literary beaten path, and try something new. Thanks for the selection!