The Clan of the Cave Bear / The Valley of Horses (The Earth's Children Series)

by Jean M. Auel

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553308521
• ISBN13: 9780553308525
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Read this!

This amazing book remains one of my favorites ever. This might sound 'sappy', but it's true! With beautiful writing, a well-researched setting, an engrossing plot, and lovable, if debatably human, characters, what more could one ask for in a novel? I normally read fantasy, and this exotic, nearly made-up setting sometimes qualifies at that -- but this is simply better than just about every fantasy novel out there!Set in Ice Age Asia, this chronicles the life of a woman named Ayla. It begins with her as a young child, orphaned, who is adopted into a clan of Neandertals. Just about every novel I've read including Neandertals has them act human -- but these people are individual and distinguished from their Cro-Magnon contemporaries, without acting in the slightest like caveman savages. Jean Auel explains their larger brain mass, factoring it into the personality of the members of the 'Clan of the Cave Bear' (describing all of this race, not merely the clan Ayla is adopted into). The young Ayla is different from the Clan people -- while not exactly 'smarter', she is far more creative. Not only that, but she's a tomboy. She defies Clan tradition by acting male -- something Clan females would never have considered. Yet the Clan members are no less special for their traditional actions. Iza, the clan medicine woman, and Creb ( a 'mog-ur', or shaman), are wonderful characters. And Ayla is amazing, throughout her life in the book.Giving away the plot in this would be pointless. But "The Clan of the Cave Bear" -did- make me cry at the end. I don't see how anyone couldn't cry. I've cried at it every time I've read it. It's just that beautiful.I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone. If you haven't already ordered this...do so! It's great. The only complaint I have about this is Ayla's ingenuity. She manages to come up with so many new ideas, ones that would be revolutionary even by Cro-Magnon standards, that it didn't seem realistic. Still, this doesn't detract from the story at all.5 stars out of 5, no question about it.

Am I Allowed To Do This?

The upcoming publication of Auel's fifth book has renewed my interest in the EarthChildren series. I'm now re-reading the books and reviewing the first, which I originally read almost 18 years ago. Am I allowed to reminisce like this? Am I out of bounds? Well, don't try to stop me. This book is still clear in my mind after nearly two decades. In the early 80's, I thumbed through it at an Albertson's checkout line, finished the first chapter, and told my parents about it. I received it a week later for my birthday...and loved every minute of the story. Jean Auel's narrative powers swept me into a past rich and alive with people, creatures, smells, and sights that are immediately familiar, yet breathtakingly foreign. That's what first caught my attention. Then I began to care about Ayla, the skinny, pale child caught in an earthquake. I followed her story with keen interest and ached over her insecurities and alienation. This is a story about people with all the feelings and emotions of you and me. And though some tried to ban the book for one particular scene of forced sex, I found it in no way glorifying the act. In fact, as a teenager, it made me more aware of a female's struggle in a male-dominated society. I'll never forget the experience--indeed, that's what it was!--of reading this novel. To go back and relive the story of Ayla all over again is a treat. I can't wait for "The Shelters of Stone." Only rarely does an author create a world so rich and believable that we could almost call it home.

Clan of the Cave Bear

I've read Clan of the Cave Bear so many times, that I've had to buy another copy. Along with her other books in the series, this is a must for everyone's personal collection. Jean M Auel weaves so much historical data in between the story lines,in fact, it is an integral part of all that makes up Ayla's life. The strength of the heroine combined with her human limitations makes Ayla come alive for the reader. I am driven to find out as much about Ayla as I can in reading this book and in the three succeeding novels in the series that continue with Ayla's saga. The books are grand, epic tales of a young woman's growing up and maturing in prehistoric times. Losing her family in an earthquake, 5 year old Ayla sets out in search of other humans in a sparsely populated prehistoric Europe. A clan of Neanderthals stumble across an unconscious, lion mauled Ayla. The Medicine Woman of the group,Iza, cares for Ayla. The clan is initially wary of Ayla, the first of "the others" that they have encountered, but she is gradually accepted by them. She has much to overcome, and Clan of the Cave Bear concludes in line with Ayla's difficulites through out the entire book. The story is picked up in "Valley of the Horses". I recommend that you read the entire series, and then wait, like the rest of us Auel-o-philes for the next book in this series. It's been over ten years since the last book (Plains of Passage)and I think I can speak for everyone when I say: Please Publish SOON!

Clan of the Cave Bear

I read this book for the first time more than 10 years ago, and I found it fascinating. I have read it again from cover to cover at least twice since then. It is very well researched, and I couldn't put it down. I wish I knew where Ms. Auel got all the information she did on the herbs and plants that she describes in her book, that the characters (Iza and Ayla) use for medicine. Some of them (like the willow bark) I know for a fact were used, and I wonder if all of the other herbs and plants really work the way she describes... Guess I'll have to check on herb and plant books for that matter! In any case, I also read the other books of the series (The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters and Plains of Passage), and I regularly check to see if Ms. Auel has published another book of this series. Hurry Ms. Auel, there are a lot of us waiting to hear what happened to Ayla.

A really good book

Although this book kind of falls apart if you try to look at it as a realistic view of how human life was 35,000 years ago, If you view it simply as a fantasy novel it turns into a very good book.The story is not especially original (outsider is adopted into a society, big changes start to occur, etc...), but it is carried off very well. But where the book really stands out is in the detailed, sometimes almost too detailed, picture of the world. The author clearly knows the world, the animals, the plants, the conditions exceptionally well, and only rarely does she really go overboard in the detailing of this information.Although at times the structure is kind of awkward, especially when characters are thinking, it is a fascinating, absorbing and hard-to-put-down book with likeable, understandable characters.I definately recommend this book to everyone.