Clan of the Cave Bear

6 Reviews

• *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  All time favourite

  I first read Clan of the Cave Bear back in the 1990s and it became my all time favourite book, it still is. While my preference for reading is fantasy/paranormal fiction, this book has a wow factor that makes me rate it so high.
  The book about a cro magnon woman (Ayla) who loses her entire tribe a ... (continue)

  I first read Clan of the Cave Bear back in the 1990s and it became my all time favourite book, it still is. While my preference for reading is fantasy/paranormal fiction, this book has a wow factor that makes me rate it so high.
  The book about a cro magnon woman (Ayla) who loses her entire tribe and is found as a child by a clan of Neanderthals. She is then accepted by (most of) them and raised as one of their own. She has to learn their ways and traditions and while at first she is considered stupid as she does not hold their memories and it takes her longer to learn, before long it is clear to their spiritual leader that her race is far superior to theirs. Ayla is trained as a medicine woman and is eventually accepted as the woman who hunts. If you're looking for the kind of book that you can't put down, this is your read.
  BTW - be willing to shed a tear or two.

  Is this helpful?

  JB said on Apr 21, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 

  The first of a well known saga. Entertaining! Sometimes too much description, too many details, but what an adventure.
  Short of 5 stars.

  Is this helpful?

  jelabino said on Mar 17, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Clan of The Cave Bear

  My favorite book of all time. A must read for those who enjoy historical romance fiction.

  Is this helpful?

  Howdelighted said on Jan 28, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | 1 feedback

• 

  I wish I could give this 2.5 stars. I'm not sure if I actually liked it or not. The story was kind of interesting but I didn't care for the writing style at all. The writing was really high schoolish, and then she would just dump in pages of flower facts. Who cares? And the names of all the cha ... (continue)

  I wish I could give this 2.5 stars. I'm not sure if I actually liked it or not. The story was kind of interesting but I didn't care for the writing style at all. The writing was really high schoolish, and then she would just dump in pages of flower facts. Who cares? And the names of all the characters were ridiculous. Oga and Ovra and Uba and bleah...

  Anyways, the book is OK but I don't know why people talk about it like it's the best thing on earth. Even the librarian got all misty eyed when I was checking the book out and she started gushing about how much I was going to love it and how it was such a classic. I guess I must be missing something. I might go on to read the next one in the series eventually.

  Oh also lots of animals die. A lot of them are killed for food, which makes sense, but not all, and I have a difficult time reading that.

  Is this helpful?

  Deanna Kyre said on Feb 13, 2009 | 1 feedback

• 

  Imagination Letting You Down? Read About Life In The Clan of the Cave Bear.

  I remember a conversation I had with an old friend of mine (he's perhaps twenty years older than me I think) whom I had met through work. I had found out that he never reads fiction. Agast, I asked why. He stated that he just couldn't get into it anymore. His imagination was gone. That conversation ... (continue)

  I remember a conversation I had with an old friend of mine (he's perhaps twenty years older than me I think) whom I had met through work. I had found out that he never reads fiction. Agast, I asked why. He stated that he just couldn't get into it anymore. His imagination was gone. That conversation haunts me to this day. Slowly, as I've been getting older I have found that many novels just don't enthrall me as much anymore.

  Remember seeing your first horror movie on television as a child? The nightmares and craziness that followed? The instant phobias towards sharks (if it was Jaws) or what have you that these films created? After seeing many films and many years later, films don't do that to me anymore and I doubt they do for most people. The same is for novels. I remember reading The Stand by Stephen King and diving out of people's way after that when I saw them sneeze! I remember ignoring everything around me just to keep turning pages of various stories. This was to end? Oh no!

  Today I'm afraid it has gotten harder to find a story that does that to me. I was starting to get quite scared about it. One recent novel that totally got me is the Clan Of The Cave Bear.

  I had seen the movie as a young teen (you know the one with Darryl Hannah that instantly gave me a fetish towards super tall babes). It was a decent movie but nothing spectacular. I suppose I'll have to check it out now that I've read the novel, but most reviews I've read about it say the film is bad compared to the novel. Now that I've read the novel will I like it?

  The novel is quite a story. It's about a young child born to a group of humans called 'The Others'. They are basically us in the prehistoric days. Ayla is orphaned when an earthquake kills her parents and she is forced to wander alone ... until the other group of human-like people find her. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, a more cro-magnon type of a race adopts her but not without hesitation.

  The Clan's medicine woman and many others come to love her and accept her in the tribe, however, many do not. One individual in particular holds more hatred towards this child than anything I have ever seen before. Broud is the next in line for the leadership of the Clan. He thinks everyone should be in awe of him. Whenever he accomplishes a great feat, it's unfortunately at the same time something Ayla does that's talked about. He feels cheated everytime she gets all the acclaim and he does not.

  Broud's whole life throughout the novel is one of utter hatred towards Ayla. He beats her, demeans her and even degrades her over and over again. The weird thing is (something that Broud can never understand) is that in every instance she is beaten, etc., eventually it makes her will stronger and she overcomes all the tough challenges he throws her way.

  This novel is exciting because of one major reason. Author Jean M. Auel's pacing is amazing. I cannot recall ever reading a section that felt boring. I can't recall never wanting to turn page after page to find out what's going to happen to poor Ayla. All the way to the end I wanted to know what the heck would happen to her! Eventually about three quarters of the novel through you can tell there is no way Ayla's going to survive life in the Clan when Broud becomes leader ... what is going to happen?

  All of the characters are so well developed that every one of them feels as close as family afterward. I didn't want to read about certain favorite characters dying. I gritted my teeth when Clan members did bad things. Wow, did Ms. Auel's characters ever come to life. It's been a long time since I've walked away from a novel and actually had to shake off the fact that I don't really know these people.

  I grabbed this novel on a whim because I remembered the alright film from long ago. I've always wanted to check it out but never expected my expectations to be shattered as much as they have. I went along for the ride and Jean Auel entertained me more than an author has done for quite some time. I'm not too sure the sequels will be up to par with the Clan Of The Cave Bear, but you can bet I'll definitely read the next one called The Valley Of Horses.

  Thank god Jean M. Auel has proved my old work buddy wrong!

  Is this helpful?

  CaptHowdy said on Sep 9, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This is another one of those series that started off well but changed from a historical piece to a romantic piece. The first few books in the series were much more interesting to read than the last few.

  Is this helpful?

  Camille said on Apr 17, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (77)
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 star
• English Books
• Paperback 592 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0340839899
• ISBN-13: 9780340839898
• Publisher: Hodder Paperback
• Pub date: Mar 13, 2006
• Dimensions: 839 mm x 1290 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, School & Library Binding, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, Libros en Español, llibres en català

Groups with this in collection

• 50 Book Challenge! (866)

Prices Change currency & sellers