Neander..what?

 The Clan of the Cave Bear

This week's book is first in the Earth's Children series, The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I know this one is a bit of an oldie (and I'm not just talking about the cro-magnon characters) and I had always been aware of Auel's prehistoric series from various Amazon recommendations and so forth clogging up my dashboard, but, as a archaeology student, I was always reluctant to read them fearing that for the entire book I would be pointing out out-dated concepts and flaws in the science. However, it wasn't until a very good friend of mine (and fellow archaeologist) demanded that I give it shot.  

*shout out to Maggie*

Bantam Cover, 2011

So, why don't I give you some stats?

Rating: M - death, violence, animal killings, distressing scenes and those damn emotional feels. 

Post feels - Noooooooo. Need more.

What's the plot you might ask?


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.

So, here I am. And how happy I am that I took my friend's word for it. Although there isn't a lot of romance in this first one, there is an amazing story of a young human's journey through the Last Ice Age. It's a story of self discovery, heartache, family and love. And, god damn it, it gets your right in the gut. At times I found it difficult to read - Auel is brilliant at writing distressing scenes which makes the audience relate easily to the character suffering. But, there was also times that I had to re-evaluate my own modern perspective. Although, I don't agree with some of Auel's male-hierarchy dominated world in which she places the Neanderthal clan, it makes the reader leave their modern attitudes at the front cover and really feel the constricting and dangerous nature of the book and world. However, if I could give one criticism - and I don't think its that harsh - it would be this: do not take this work of fiction as reality. We cannot know and we don't have the evidence for Auel's society - Neanderthals are complex and beautiful people, who created amazing tools and works that were on par with modern humans at that time. Try not to think that Auel's representation of Neanderthal society as a primitive, male dominated and female suppressing one, as truth. Evidence shows that homo sapiens and Neanderthals were pretty much intellectual equals in terms of tool production and art. Therefore, we cannot know what it was like and we can only speculate on their society. So, please, don't take this representation as fact and please, try not to judge them too harshly. They were people, just like me and you.

And, after my little prehistoric moral rant, I'll get back to the writing. Obviously in fiction, the realm of reality is always pushed and the idea of Neanderthals having a collective conscious might be far fetched, but in the bounds of fiction, the idea actually seems to work in favour of showing Ayla as an outsider. I was also thankful that Jean M. Auel hadn't just jumped to the conclusion of humans-slaughtered-everyone-in-their-path storyline. Honestly, my relief was tangible when I realised that A LOT of research had been placed into this work. For example, the lack of vocal ability that Neanderthals are thought to have, was played out and acted beautifully in the book. 

Not only that, but the journey that Ayla struggles through is truly beautiful. You follow her from being a small, chubby five year old girl wandering naked after a disastrous tectonic shift, to a blooming woman, watching as she faces perils and emerges herself into a culture which is not her own. Ayla is a perfect character, full of innocence, defiance, gall and intelligence. She instills fear, pride and hatred into the tribe causing a number of interesting relationship dynamics which never let your eyes wander from the page. Even after 500 pages, you'll crave more. Not only from Ayla, but from the secondary characters Auel writes perfectly into the story. Each come alive throughout the book, painting strong images across the page of their love, their hate, their loyalty and their fierce pride in their home.

All in all, it's a fantastic beginning to an already widely known and read series which makes you never want to leave Auel's clan.