The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel

Rating: 2 1/2
Read for: TBR Challenge 2008

The Clan of the Cave Bear is the first in the Earth's Children series, which Auel began back in 1980 and is still writing today. Read for my TBR Challenge.

With a prehistoric setting when Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man shared the earth, the titular "Clan" are a group of Neanderthal who are searching for a new home after theirs was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. On their journey, the medicine woman, Iza, discovers an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl and cares for her until the girl inadvertantly leads them to a perfectly situated cave. The leader of the Clan is persuaded to let Iza adopt the girl, Ayla, and slowly she is accepted by most of the Clan members.

The story follows Ayla as she is raised by Iza and Creb, the Clan's powerful holy man, as she struggles to assimilate into the Ways of the Clan. However, Ayla is not Clan, and is drawn to many things most of the Clan shy away from, such as open water, and often behaves most unlike a Clan woman, such as learning to hunt. Although seem as good luck by most of the Clan, Ayla makes an enemy of their future leader, Broud, and her transition from child to woman, and woman to medicine woman is fraught with angst and pain.

Although I have been looking forward to reading this series for some time, I was somewhat disheartened that within the first 3 or 4 chapters, I was very ready to give up. I was simply finding it boring and struggled to keep interested in the characters. Auel has done a staggering amount of research and her descriptions of the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people and their way of life is genuinely astounding, which combined with her creative imagination has led to some really interesting storytelling. However, the drawback was that Auel's descriptive prose was overly long and far too detailed for my enjoyment, often with several pages describing a simple activity. I did persevere with all 587 pages, and found that by the end I had quite enjoyed the experience, after a while (half the book!) becoming quite absorbed in this prehistoric world. The end is left quite open, as usual with such an extended series (five books and counting) and though I do wonder where Auel will take some of her characters, I do not feel particularly inclined to read further. Reviews of the follow ups are varied, and although her work is generally praised, the titles seem to get longer and longer and I truly think my patience would be tried!

So I'm going to call it a day. I'm glad I've finally read this book (I now know what the hype is about!) and will no longer be drawn to this section in bookshops! It has been quite refreshing reading outside the usual realms of fantasy that I find myself in, but I am a little disappointed that the book has not triggered any interest in prehistoric man or the Ice Age, as I had hoped.

The Clan of the Cave Bear most definitely lives up to its "magnificent epic" acclaim, but is a bit too epic for me!

Other blog reviews:
Michelle at In the Louvre
Jeane at Dog Ear Diary