Ayla, as homo sapiens, lacks their racial memory, but is more adaptable and quick to learn. Their long memory keeps them in a rut of tradition and limits their ability to adapt to change.
Auel paints the Clan as a slowly dying race. They rely on the experiences of previous generations, as well as their own, to navigate the world around them. The Neanderthals of the Clan possess ancestral memories that are passed down through generations. Auel drives this conflict with the fantasy element of the book. Though her body is noticeably different, the conflicts between her and the Clan are primarily differences in worldview. The Clan have only rare interactions with Ayla’s kind, who they call “the Others,” but end up adopting her.Īs Ayla grows, she has to deal with the challenges of integrating into the Clan as an outsider. She is eventually rescued and comes to live with the titular Clan of the Cave Bear, a Neanderthal tribe that was displaced by the same earthquake and forced to search for a new cave. The protagonist of the story is Ayla, a Cro Magnon (early modern human) child who loses her family in an earthquake within the first few pages. However, I already know I’ll be tracking down at least the next book as this one ends on enough of an open ending that I’d like to see what happens to the characters that are still alive from the group above, as well as the offspring of those characters.The Clan of the Cave Bear is written mostly as straight historical fiction, with a few fantasy elements.
AYLA CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR SERIES
I’m tempted to forego reading more of the series and just enjoying what a great book this is on its own. I can see by the average Goodreads scores, that most people find the quality of this series to be of diminishing returns as it advances. I found myself loving four of these characters and hating the fifth, which I expect will be the same reaction for most who read this book. Iza is the medicine woman who adopts her, Creb is the shaman type character for the clan, Brun is the tribe leader and Broud is his son and in line to be the next leader. Ayla is the protagonist, a Cro-Magnon girl who gets adopted by the neanderthal tribe. While that mixture of modern science with fantasy abilities all taking place in a historical fiction type of narrative is unlike anything I’ve read, Auel (for this book at least) managed to bring it all together in an exemplary manner.Ĭlan of the Cave Bear features a small cast of about 20 characters, of which five are significantly developed and about another five are treated as important but also fairly static (along with the other ten or so characters). The group of neanderthal (Clan) people also have some abilities that are rooted in fantasy, but the book tries to stay as grounded as possible in reality. I could see how some readers will be taken out of the story by this, but I appreciated the interjections as a good narrator explaining the inner goings of the characters and the society they inhabit. However, Auel also has a habit for interjecting a modern reader’s sensibility into the story, discussing things like advanced medical science, or biology of the neanderthal brain. It was very simple to follow, heavily based on advancing the narrative. Auel has a writing style here that I LOVED. However, I could see how this book would not be for everyone. I’d say it’s on par with Nick Hornby’s Ten Years in the Tub for the best book I’ve read in the past few years. This was one of those rare books that made me wish I’d be a bit pickier with my five star ratings as I enjoyed this book a lot more than many other books I’ve given five stars to. I give a lot of books I enjoy five stars, but they’re generally books I enjoyed and lived up to what I was hoping for, or took a series that was good and made it better. That’s a long buildup before ever discussing this book, but I’m wanting to be honest in discussing my thoughts as I read this.įirst, I’m giving this book five stars.
AYLA CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR ZIP
While she’s reading the excellent Crime and Punishment I thought I’d zip through this one before she got to it.
When my wife was looking for a book about a primitive culture I looked this one up (really never even knowing what it was about for sure until then) and got a copy for both of us. I never bought it as a kid though, who knows why when I picked up so many other books that have sat on my shelves for years and either been read or are still waiting for the long payoff. No particular reason why besides a title that implied there’d be some people that had some involvement with bears. Growing up, this was a popular enough book that I’d see it for sale at numerous used book stores, and always kept it in the back of my mind that I would read it someday. My fascination with this book is somewhat random.
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