The Clan of the Cave Bear
Ratings141
Average rating3.9
A little slow, but very interesting. Almost lost me towards the end with the invention of rape.
A good story, but the author provides WAY too much detail. Not all of the characters in the book need to be fully fleshed out, you can have some background.
Ok so first of all that ending hurt my soul, second of all FUCK Broud I hated him so much throughout the book and the ending just made it Worse
Listened to this as an audiobook.
Fantastic pseudo-anthropological story. Aside from the actual story line, the descriptions of prehistoric neanderthal life and activities are fascinating. I of course didn't take it as an actual scientific account, though it does seem quite well researched, but as an excellent example of world building.
A very interesting book. It was great to imagine how they lived in that period of time. I listened to the audio version, which l'm not a big fan of but it was well done and entertaining. Great story and characters.
I started out wanting to like this book, but the longer it went on the less I enjoyed it. All Ayla needed was a cape, some tights and a giant yellow A stuck to her chest to complete her superhero status. All of that was over the top. Though not as over the top as her mustache twirling evil nemesis, Broud. His reactions were incredibly predictable and eye roll worthy.
As many other reviews have mentioned, it's obvious that the author did her research (at least the research available when the book was written). And apparently she felt the need to share all of that research with the reader. To the point that it only served to drag out the story more than it needed to be. By the time I got about 1/3 of the way through the book, I was skipping large amounts of prose.
On the plus side I did like Creb (though the whole drug induced telepathy thing was silly)and Iza.
This was really, and I mean really, not my type of book. That is, I've never read anything quite like it, and usually don't like this type of genre. The reason I gave it a try is: A good friend of mine who died last February, recommended it to me last year when I asked her for book suggestions. I've been thinking about her a lot lately, as well as feeling like reading something different, so I decided to read it in her memory, if you will..
Surprisingly, I liked more about the book than I would've expected. I've always loved delving into other times, other places and cultures. It shocks me how brutal and barbaric humans can be without the laws of civil society. Not to mention what creative imaginations we have when left to our own devices.
I loved Creb from the start. I think he's my favorite character. That's about all I can really say on the book, except to say it was a pretty memorable read. Even the disturbing bits, or maybe especially the disturbing bits. But definitely a worth while read. I just might check out the second book in the series.
Book was ok. Found myself struggling to get through parts of it. I most likely will not venture on to the rest of the books in this series.
I just re-read this after a couple decades. I am sure I didn't get it quite the way it was intended when I was reading it in middle school, but I am not sure that there was all that much I was missing.
I was about 15 when I first read this book, and I remember thinking ‘wow, I want to be as strong and independent as Ayla'. I think she is generally a much better role model for young women then Bella from Twilight. But maybe I am just getting old....
Read it again just to be sure.