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Summary: This book was only the beginning for me....
Review: I gave birth to my daughter, Summer Rose, when I was 17. Shortly after I noticed such a drastic change in my lifestyle. Throughtout my life the only time I picked up a book was in school when it was assigned. Never had I dreamed of reading for recreational purposes. I thought my own mother was crazy for even willingly picking up a book. However, ever since I was a child my facination with pre-history and native american history has always pulled at my blood and has crept not only in my brain but has made a place in my heart. Becoming a mother myself gave me the leverage I needed to finally pick up a book and see what the written word has provided for individuals such as myself. My first book to read for the reason as just because was The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. Not only did it grasp my attention but it blew me away. Never in my life did I expect to love reading as much as I read this book. I thought the details and research was to my knowledge accurate (but of course I'm no expert!) The story line was believable and very hard to put down. I thought nothing would ever top this until I heard that there was a sequel...
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Summary: The Clan Of The Cave Bears Review
Review: The Clan Of The Cave Bears is a story of a young girls journey from a homeless child to a young woman raised by a people different then those biologically related to her. Ayla was five when her people were killed in a devastating earthquake. After wandering alone for weeks she is found unconscious by a medicine woman of a homeless Clan. The leader of this Clan sees her as a pet project for his sister Iza, the medicine woman, and believes she would die even with her help. After being nursed back to help she is raised in the ways of the Clan by Iza and her brother, Creb. After a series of events leads the leader's son to an intense hatred of her, Ayla's life takes a different turn than she imagined. She struggles to cope with her differences between her and the people she loves and for acceptance of the Clan. The book takes you through age five to her early teenage years. Jean M. Auel never fails to show the changes in Ayla's personality and thoughts and she becomes a woman. The people of the Clan change as well: Ayla changed their lives forever giving them a unique status when they join several Clans for the Clan Gathering.
Ayla discovers many different things, that extend well beyond her own inventions and into cultural differences of her foster-people and her. Her difference from the Clan extends well beyond appearance, but that is conquered by her love for her foster parents, Iza and Creb, changing her and their way of thinking forever. As the first in a series of five books this is a wonderful beginning to the life of Ayla, a young girl lost in the woods of her differences to her "family." I found this book wonderful to read and could not wait to read the next in the series after this one.
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Summary: Imaginative and detailed book
Review: I love this book! I read it years ago and when I discovered the fifth book is out in paperback, I bought it again since I knew that winter was coming. I needed something to keep me busy in those long winter evenings. This book is the best medicine for us winter-weary folks! The book starts with Ayla who loses her parents in an earthquake and was found, wandering around delirious with pain from four lion scratches on her legs and delirious from hunger, by Iza, a Medicine woman. In spite of her "otherness" Ayla is adopted into the clan. And that is just the beginning of her tribulations and trimuphs. Ayla is not perfect but she's such a fascinating character to read ~~ I don't care if she's almost perfect. I can escape into her story and be glad of a cozy fire at my feet while the wind is howling outside! If you're interested in historical fiction with a good story ~~ this book is it. It's engrossing and full of rich details of primitive lifestyle ~~ it makes you wonder if they really are that different from all of us. They live, hunt, eat, love and bear babies and die ~~ like us. Just their tools and surroundings are a lot cruder than our living standards. It's a great book to escape into. Perfect for those long winter nights. 2-2-04
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Summary: I've read it countless times
Review: This is one of the few books that I've read *many* times. It's one of my favorite books. It tells the story of Ayla, that, due to an earthquake in her childhood, is adopted by a group of people that are both like and unlike her. In order to fit in to her new society, she must go against her own instict. She learns to hunt, though it's forbiddin, and she learns to heal..because her family thinks that this is the only way she will have any value in the patriarchal society. She is raped at a young age, and bears a child, which she nearly loses.
Many people are critical, because Ayla is TOO perfect, and discovers too much. Well...so what? It's fiction. She isn't perfect in every way, and she is full of self doubt, and frequently makes poor decisions in her life.
Ayla is a strong character, and Jean Auel is a great writer, and the imagery in her books is fantastic. They are well researched and enjoyable. I loved it!
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Summary: engrossing
Review: I have read this book several times since it was first published and have never tired of it. Jean M Auel has obviously done her research before embarking on this novel and by doing so has managed to recreate the ancient world of the neanderthals in a totally believable way.
This is such an evocative book you can visualise the clan and their surroundings almost as if you were sat among them. The sights, sounds, smells are described so well that they feel almost real. It makes for a fascinating glimpse in to an ancient, forgotten way of life.
Interwoven with this, is the wonderful tale of Ayla, a young cro-magnon girl who is adopted by a clan of Neanderthals after an earthquake leaves her orphaned. Her struggle to be accepted among the members of the clan and the interaction between all of the characters make for a fascinating and absorbing read.
This book works well on all levels and I would highly recommend it.
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Summary: Struggle for acceptance in a prehistoric adoptive family.
Review: I reread this book recently after having read it for the first time 15 years ago and I enjoyed it again. The setting is somewhere in Eastern Europe about 35,000 years ago. The premise is that 2 divergent human species occupy Europe at that time. After a horrible earthquake, the medicine woman of the Clan of the Cave Bear finds an orphaned and injured young girl of the 'Other' type of humans. Ayla is cared for and loved by the aged and scarred priest Creb and his medicine woman sister Iza who act as her parents. But she looks different and her way of thinking is different than the ways of her adoptive people, (presumably Neanderthals, while she herself is Cro-Magnon?) and she struggles for acceptance. The story covers approximately 9 years of Ayla's life from the age of 5 until the age of 14. Although we are lead to believe that she was born to people that are taller, more agile and more innovative than the Clan people, Ayla is the only person of her kind that we encounter in this story. The traits of Ayla's people are determined based on her fragmented memories and her own emerging talents as she grows. The Clan people are stockier and stronger than Ayla and communicate mostly with sign language while Ayla recalls communicating verbally. The Clan people rely heavily on inherited memory and have clearly defined gender roles, which Ayla continually grapples with. She cannot restrain her curiosity and she is constantly challenging the rules with her aberrant behavior. Ayla wants to learn to hunt with a sling, but it is forbidden. She learns the art of healing from her new mother, but because she is not a birth daughter, the members of the clan have reservations. She has a grasp of mathematics and the gift of sight that would make her a good priestess, but that path is not open to women. We have all felt out of place and therefore everyone can identify somewhat with Ayla. I liked Ayla's spirit and the way she excels at everything she sets her mind to. I particularly loved the herb lore and descriptions of tribal living in the cave. I like learning how the clan hunted, clothed themselves and managed to live through winters. The religious ceremonies were nicely drawn and the funeral descriptions give a sense of the spirituality of our evolutionary forefathers. A warning to readers that there is some sexual violence in this novel. Recommended.
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Summary: I want to be Ayla!!
Review: I read this entire series years ago and loved it. I travel a lot in my car for work and decided to get some audio books to pass the time. Checked this one out of the library because it is so long and I am hooked. Just ordered the forth book in the series and cannot wait for it to arrive. This was an awesome book the second time around, actually better than the first read. The reader, Sandra Burr is excellent and I hated for it to end. Ayla is my hero!!
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Summary: A work of art
Review: This book is a work of art ! As the main character in this story (Ayla) grows you feel you are with her, discovering and growing as she does. You feel the hopelessness of what her life seems to be becoming, and the strength in her as her iron will pulls her though. Her strength is remarkable and her discoveries a bit unbelievable but all worth the while. I have read this entire series, over and over again. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to escape their reality, and try to see what life could have been like so many hundreds of years ago.
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Summary: Really excellent book
Review: it is the 2nd book i read from this series(i read the 5th book first)..it is certainly the best book of the series and i am rather disappointed by the quality of the other 4 books after i read this, it talks about the life of ayla in the clan(considered animals by people), her unusualness, and her life there, and it does not have the scenary description like in her other 4 books, a truly must read.
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Summary: The Clan of the Cave Bear: The Story of a Young Girl¿s Human
Review: "Nothing in her experience ever gave her reason to doubt the shelter and those within it would be there when she returned," the perfect opening line to a series of books like The Clan of the Cave Bear. Jean M. Auel wrote this line to help the reader understand the point in life where this young girl stood. She relied on others to take care of her and now she must face life on her own. Ayla a young girl, alone in a world of strangers, is forced to deal with the power struggles and taboos of the clan. Brun is the leader of the clan and is the soul determiner of Ayla's fate. Iza, the medicine woman, decides to save the girl from starvation. The holy man of all clans, Creb, learns more from Ayla than she does from him. Broud, the son of Brun, is an arrogant man, who seeks revenge on Ayla. Born out of a violent rape, Durc is the future of the clan. Ayla is my favorite character because she changes the most out of all the characters in this novel. As a young girl, she is ruled by taboos and traditions of the clan. As a young adult, she's stronger and more knowledgeable than any other clan member. Prehistoric Europe during the Ice Age is large-scale area for this novel. The extent of ice and change in coastlines during the 10,000 year Interstadial, a warming trend during the Wurm glaciations of the late Pleistocene Epoch, extending from 35,000 to 25,000 years before present time was occurring during this period. The novel takes place in a cave for a large part of the story. The cave is where the clan live and a smaller cave's where Ayla contemplates clan activities. Ayla, a young girl who is lost and must survive using only her inner strength to guide her. The leader of the clan and one of the people who help decide Ayla's fate is Brun, a bearded, barrel-chested man. Iza, chief medicine woman of the clan, takes Ayla in. Creb is the magician, but most refer to him as the holy man of all clans. Broud is the son of Brun and is set to take over the clan. Durc is the Ayla's child, born out of a violent rape and shall be the future of the clan. The main story within the novel is Ayla's growth as a person. Seeing her as a young child lost and confused about life. She does not know where she belongs and struggles to find her place in this group of people. As she grows into a young woman she learns survival techniques and picks up knowledge from other clan members. She wants to be more of a factor in the clan and play a part in the power, but the leaders will not allow that to happen. The language in the book uses everyday terms except for in the dialogue between characters, in which it changes to nomadic language. Auel has a good knowledge of early plants helped make the medicine woman more believable. The novel was written in third person point of view. Auel wrote the characters to have a range of human emotions. She writes about not only physical human survival but mental as well. The flow of the story is very smooth after the second chapter. In the first chapter you start with Ayla being lost and confused. In the second chapter you are immediately introduced to the clan and in the middle of the chapter Ayla appears again. At first, it was somewhat confusing but when you kept reading everything transitioned well. I felt the story was strong in all aspects, but Auel's strongest writing feature is her knowledge on the time period. When reading the novel you can compare it to the present day issues and power struggles, so any person would enjoy the novel. This quote fits the description of Ayla in the novel, "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
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