Hmmm, must attempt to find and read book quickly.

Look in your trunk, sumi.

Do we have either a stompy or Lilty in the house? That first post in the thread needs to be updated, as it only has information through the discussion for Small World.

Posted in B'cy for a stompy to change it. Thanks for the Press announcement, Cindy.

Thanks for the links Cindy.

I was studying the Old Testament when I read The Red Tent. It was a wonderful time to read it, and, like you, I could hardly put it down once I started it. But I've never used any reading guides for it, and I think that will be a nice bonus here.

I also love how you describe it as midrash. It makes perfect sense, but I don't think I would have ever thought of it that way. We read some midrash (midrashes?) in my OT class, but before that, my only exposure was in Jewish fiction (Potok, The Rabbi Who... books). Perhaps it's partly because my exposure is so limited - I'm sure that there is a tremendous variety - but I'm really growing to love midrash.

libkitty, Diamant used to be a columnist for one of our big news papers (The Boston Globe). They gave her a nice boost after she left and was working on/had just finished the book. I think she probably introduced me to the term midrash in one of her interviews.

eta...

Thanks, Wolfram. When it gets updated, I'll edit the Press post to note the information is there.

Thanks, Wolfram. When it gets updated, I'll edit the Press post to note the information is there.

Somebody updated it.

ETA: That somebody was DX Machina.

There are some interesting articles on The Red Tent in NoveList. You may have access to this online database through your library, maybe even from home. If you would like to see and don't have access, let me know at my profile addy. I should be able to forward to a limited number of people.

I'm working on The Red Tent, and I'm afraid it's slow going. It's beautifully written, the characters seem real and differentiated and interesting, but ...

It's not that I need explosions and chases and death-defying adventure to keep my interest--though it's always welcome--but the inner life of women isn't that fascinating to me.

I'll try to resist further comments till the actual discussion date.

Okay, I'm just going to dive in, and pose a question to y'all, from the discussion questions at this site: [link]

This chapter [ch. 7] includes the central moment of this novel and requires a great deal of reflection. Diamant reinterprets Dinah's rape as a misunderstood love affair. How do we respond to this? In the Bible, the Hebrew word for "rape" is used. Is it possible that Dinah's brothers misinterpreted her relationship to this man? Or does Diamant take her midrash too far?

I'd like to know what people think, particularly those who have read the corresponding Bible chapter (if you haven't, here's a link just to Genesis 34: [link] You'll note, the translation (NIV) I've just linked doesn't say Shechem raped Dinah. Instead, it says he took her and her. The King James translation says he lay with her, and defiled her. [link] More modern translations use rape, but from what I can find of the Hebrew (in an exhaustive concordance), those translations choosing to use that word because of the larger context.

The Red Tent is midrash, so there's no wrong answer to this question. I'm just interested in your opinions. The purpose of midrash, as I understand it, is to fill in the blanks, but Diamant is not* pretending her take is authoritative. She had a story she wanted to tell.

* edited because leaving out one little word can completely change a sentence. Huh.