![]() My other personal gripe with the book is that it was rather over-violent in places. On the other hand, I wasn't emotionally moved at any point, even when Ayla or her loved ones suffered bereavement. It didn't matter over-much, and I didn't care sufficiently to go back and make myself a list of who was whom, or their various relationships. I found myself relating somewhat to Ayla as she grew up, although I never quite sorted out in my mind several of the less significant members of the Clan, some of whom had very similar names. Perhaps these would be of interest to more practical folk, but I found myself skimming rather large chunks of the book every so often, to get to the interesting people-related sections.Īs for the people, I thought the main characters were well-developed. There was also exensive information about the many plants and herbs that were used in medicine, which Ayla had to collect and learn about. There were pages and pages devoted to fine detail of how the expert craftsmen of the Clan made their flint knives and spears, and what different furs were used for. But this one, in my view, could have done with some serious editing. I don't have a problem with lengthy books in general - this has nearly 600 pages, and I've read and enjoyed many longer novels. I found 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' over-long. For perhaps the first time, I found myself with some inkling of what life might have been like in prehistoric times. The writing is powerful and believable, clearly very well researched. So there's plenty of conflict, and a very good story as Ayla slowly matures and adapts, faces many battles, and begins to discover her destiny. Weapons of any sort are completely forbidden to Clan women, on pain of death. Unfortunately, she finds it hard to behave as the Clan women are supposed to, questioning all their traditional ways, showing insolence to Brun's rather arrogant son, and (worst of all) deciding that she would like to learn to use a sling. She has quick aptitude for medicine, and a deep-seated need to help anyone in pain, or injured in any way. Still, Ayla quickly proves her intelligence and makes her way into the hearts of both Iza and Mog-ur. She comes from a different society, where girls run and jump and laugh, and are not necessarily totally obedient in servitude to their men. Mog-ur is over thirty, so is a venerable old age, and riddled with arthritis.Īyla doesn't just look different with her long limbs and fair hair, she speaks a different language that's more verbal than the clan's gesture-oriented speech with few sounds. Iza's brothers are older still: Brun is the leader of the clan, and the other brother is Mog-ur, a kind of pagan priest. Most of the girls develop into women at the age of about eight, and have their first babies when they are nine or ten. She is considered very old to be doing so. Iza is twenty, and expecting her first baby. People matured rapidly in prehistoric times, apparently. ![]() Most want to ignore her - she looks totally different from them, and is only a girl anyway - but the medicine woman, Iza, wants to adopt her. Ayla manages to fend for herself for a few days, and even escape a vicious cave lion, before she is discovered by a passing tribe of Neanderthal. I should mention that the book is set about thirty-five thousand years ago, in central Europe around the time of an ice age. Then she loses her entire family in an earthquake, and wanders a long way before she finds other people. 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' is about Ayla, who we first meet at five years old, a contented and secure child who loves to swim. I'm always pleased to find a new writer, so I spent a little Christmas money on ordering the first in the series. As the seasons wear on, the tribe utilizes Ayla's knowledge for their own good while Ayla's continues to try the patience of the tribe with her unspeakable feminist demands.I had never heard of Jean M Auel, or the 'Earth's Children' series, until a friend said she had recently re-read the whole series, and found them gripping. She learns to count and becomes the assistant to the local medicine expert. ![]() She then questions the tribe's assumptions concerning sexual politics. #AYLA CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR HOW TO#Unable to conceive of why only men are given weapons, she takes it upon herself to learn how to use a slingshot. The Neanderthals quickly accept her into their tribe, but once a tribal member, Ayla begins to question the tribe's male chauvinistic presumptions. Focusing on a tribe of wandering Neanderthals who adopt a young girl named, Ayla (played as an adult by Daryl Hannah). The story begins at the moment in pre-history when the last of the Neanderthal men were becoming extinct and the superior race of Cro-Magnons were starting to supersede them. Auel's best-selling ode to Cro-Magnon women. Cinematographer Michael Chapman directed this John Sayles adaptation of Jean M. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |