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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Audiobook Review: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel


The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
Book 1 of the Earth’s Children series
Unabridged, 19 hr. 36 min.
Brilliance Audio
Sandra Burr (Narrator)
September 14, 2004
★★★★★
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Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library
“This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love. Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear.

A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly--she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.”
I had only first heard about this book relatively recently, although it has been out for over 20 years. I wasn’t sure how I would like this book as there isn't a whole lot known about Neanderthals and Cro-magnon peoples in terms of their daily lives. Let me tell you, this book hits it out of the park! All my concerns were for nothing and this will be one of my favorite reads of 2011.

Auel makes the very distant to us Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon come to vivid life. We get a very believable description of how they may have lived life – from the clothing they wore, to the spirits they could have believed in, the food they ate, how they hunted, and what they may have thought about each other. A vast amount of details would have to have been supplied by the author as aspects such as their belief system will likely never be known – but they felt seemless and believable.

As strong as the writing is regarding the culture and setting, the characters are where the writing shines. There is quite a large cast of main characters and even more supporting characters, however Auel constructs all into well rounded characters that you can identify and connect to. Even the supporting cast does not get pushed into the background. One way that you know you have great characters is when their actions or things that happen to them can bring you to tears – and at several points in this novel that happened to me. You can get so emotionally connected to these characters. One of the characters that I loved the most is Brun, the leader of the clan. I really enjoyed how he would weigh all of the options and really tried to do what was best for everyone.

This book has been on several Banned Books lists for one of two reasons. The first is due to its support of the idea of evolution. The second is for the sex/rape scene that occurs – and this is the one that I want to address. Auel essentially builds the idea of sex as a part of their culture into the novel from very near the beginning. She explains how it is a “normal” way of life for men to exercise their needs with women. The scene itself wasn’t very graphic and certainly not the worst I have read. It just felt natural to the way the book was written and not out of character for the setting of the story. Now I would certainly understand not wanting it to be available in say a middle school library, since the book is written for an adult audience. But I wouldn’t let the fact it might be banned stop you from reading it.

I didn’t want to put this book down and eagerly anticipated getting back in the car to listen to it – I didn’t love that it usually meant I had to be on my way to work though! Although I want to jump right into the rest of the series, I have heard mixed reviews of the other books, so I am waiting until my love for this book dies down a little bit.

★★★★☆

The narration of the book met expectations. There was differentiation between characters and it was read at a good pace. However the voices used for the characters were a little weird, but I did get used to them. The only complaint that I have would be with the production/direction of the reading. It seemed like there were places where a pause should have been inserted, such as between sections/chapters. Sometimes it would flow right together like it was just the next paragraph but the content was so different it felt choppy. It is likely that there was a section break in the print version, but that didn’t translate to the audio version.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

You can also listen to an audio sample of the book below.

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Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia


Also by Jean M Auel

valley of the horses
The Valley of Horses (Book 2)
[My Review]

the mammoth hunters
The Mammoth Hunters (Book 3)

plains of passage
The Plains of Passage (Book 4)

shelters of stone
The Shelters of Stone (Book 5)

land of the painted cave
The Land of Painted Caves (Book 6)


Find Jean M. Auel: Website | Facebook




 
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

10 comments:

  1. I've got books 1-5 sitting on my shelf. Maybe they need to be included in my 2012 goal!

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  2. Interesting review, Heather! I read this book many years ago and thought it was very well done....the day-to-day existence of the clan was fascinating and believable, and I particularly enjoyed how Auel worked in herbal medicine and spiritual practices in their culture. I have not read any other books in the series, but your review makes me want to get busy on book #2.

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  3. Mhmmm, i may have to add these books to my TBR list (even though it seems to get bigger and never smaller, hahaha). Sounds very interesting! Some people are very touchy touchy about books like these so they decide to just band them. Great review!

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  4. I have heard so much about these books lately, obviously the later ones. I've been thinking about tackling the series, and now thanks to your review, I most certainly will. Thanks Heather :)

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  5. Allison - I would set certainly reading book 1 in my goal!

    Joanne - the day to day life was so plausible and interesting. I really want to read book 2 but I want to wait - enjoy it a little bit more!

    Carole Rae - I can sort of see why, but I think the book was very well done - it's certainly not preachy or anything.

    Jenny - Happy reading! I have heard a lot of unhappy readers of the final book - a lot of "we waited for THIS?". However book 1 was awesome! And it could be read without continuing to read the rest of the series.

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  6. This is one series that I've had on my TBR for awhile but I have yet to start in on.

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  7. Meg - I'm sure you will enjoy the book!

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  8. Jean Auel's rich storytelling has me captivated. I'm so glad the story did not end with Book One, Clan of the Cave Bear. I have devoured Book two (Valley of the Horses) and am happily reading book three (The Mammoth Hunters). Although it is fiction, I enjoy thinking about how various things could be made using only what comes from the earth. I think this book would appeal to anyone who enjoys the Maker Faire!

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    Replies
    1. I do like the way she writes and brings the prehistoric world to life. I have read Book 2 and I enjoyed it but not nearly as much as the first.

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  9. 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.

    Marlene
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Thanks for leaving your comments! I love reading them and try to reply to all!