The Clan of the Cave Bear is a novel of prehistoric fiction. There are 468 pages in this printing.
The novel was written by Jean M. Auel and is the first of 6 novels, of the Earth’s Children series.
It was copywritten in 1980 and was followed by;
The Valley of Horses (1982), The Mammoth Hunters (1985), The Plaines of Passage (1990), The Shelters of Stone (2002), The Land of Painted Caves (2011).
So many people enjoyed the first novel that they couldn’t wait to read the next.
Some reviewers out there will discuss the deep meanings of the book. They may go into great detail about the Clan, the Others, supposed Neanderthal Language, (or a primary lack of a vocal language). They will go into so many details that make you say, I don’t need to read the book because they already told me everything.
I don’t want to do that. If you want, you can read all of that online, or you can read my brief overview of what I got from it (to a point), then allow me to leave you wanting more.
This is what I got from the story;
It begins with a little girl (named Ayla), who is lost to her family (the Others), during a natural disaster. She is found by a woman of a Clan (the Clan are Neanderthals, but they refer to themselves as The Clan).
Over time Ayla is taught how she is expected to behave (she is taught the ways of The Clan). She is raised to the age of a young woman by her immediate adoptive family members, Iza (the medicine woman) and Creb (the scarred cripple in her Clan).
Ayla is different from the Clan. She might be considered a beautiful child by our standards, but is unappealing in appearance, build and stature to Clan people. She isn’t accepted by all (some treat her cruelly and abuse her).
Ayla is stronger than a person of The Clan in many ways. People of The Clan are stronger than Ayla in many ways.
She is more easily adaptable to change than a person of The Clan and is willing to risk her place in The Clan, to pursue things she believes she should be allowed to do (like hunt). She represses a lot about herself to remain in The Clan, to survive and to be able to stay with those people who she respects and loves.
This book was a page turner for me and I looked forward to getting the next book. The only thing that I felt slowed the book down in that respect, were the times when natural healing plants and medicinal herbs were discussed in great detail.
That didn’t stop me buying and reading more of her novels though.
If this sounds like an interesting read to you, and you haven’t already gotten a copy, get the novel and read it for yourself. I’d advise you to read the novel first, but I should let you know it was made into a movie too. Just the same, read the novel first.
Be forewarned, this novel was banned from a middle school library in Eugene Oregon, due to a complaint from a parent (per APnews.com 4/27/92), as it contains a rape scene.
Additionally, I saw (per encyclopedia.com) “many people find the overt racism unsettling”. They say this is due to the description of the Neanderthal vs the Others. Read the string of conversation about this book on Goodreads.com, then decide on your own if you think it is racist.
On a side note (according to PBS.org), 6 Dr. Seuss books will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery…..Sorry, but I didn’t see that one coming when I was a little kid reading McElligot’s Pool. Makes me want to hunt down my copy and read it again.
So sad. If they feel it has racist and insensitive imagery, why not change the imagery, not dump the books. Sounds like throwing the baby out with the bath water to me.
Now, back to The Clan of the Cave Bear;
At the time of this writing it is sold in paperback, hard copy and as an online read.
Per Goodreads.com 247,219 reviewers, gave it a rating of 4.1.
I read online that in the first 3 months after it’s release, it had sold 100,000 copies. Now, 22 years later, it has sold more than 45 million copies.
So, what do you think?
If I didn’t already know it was a good read, it sounds like a good read to me.
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