vagansmom Posted June 29, 2003 Share Posted June 29, 2003 Am reading The Red Tent right now. Did anyone else read it? What did you think? So far, I have mixed feelings about it. Link to comment
balletmama Posted June 29, 2003 Share Posted June 29, 2003 Vagansmom, I've read The Red Tent. I found it massively overwritten in some sections. I also found the relationships between women to be rather depressingly centered on their ability to attract men...I had expected the book to be a bit like The Mists of Avalon, a really powerful tale from the point of view of the women, but optimistically so. If anything, it turned out to be a horrifying view of the lives of women in a patriarchal society. I love the red tent as a metaphor, though. What are your mixed feelings? Link to comment
vagansmom Posted July 2, 2003 Author Share Posted July 2, 2003 I'm having a hard time articulating just what it is that I dislike about this book. I think that, in the end, it comes off trite. Somehow or other, I expected more from it but I'm not sure what. You may have nailed it by the Mists of Avalon reference. I must've expected some sort of revelatory prose but as you say, it's depressing in its portrayal of a bunch of women vying for the guy. I'm not far enough into the book (about a third) to know if it continues along this way. It's an interesting portrayal of how women manage their relationships when they're all married to the same man. I think it's pretty honest there. So far I don't think the individual characters are going to be developed enough but that may change. Maybe what I'm realizing is that this book is hitting me over the head with what it's trying to say. There doesn't seem to be anything subtle about it. I do also love the red tent metaphor. Link to comment
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