The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel

I seem to have been the only person in my peer group who did not read clan of the cave bear- and indeed the entire Earth’s Children series of book when I was around 15. When visiting the prehistoric caves in the Southern France area last summer, I took an interest in prehistoric things- and discovered a lot more about the early people of earth than I had ever known. I visited a site, near to Lascaux, where the famous cave paintings are, which was a Neanderthal settlement where there had been both Neanderthals and bears buried in the same site. I then heard that the relationship between bears and prehistoric settlements was relatively well documented and that, this ...  Read the complete review

"The only good way to make good money from archaeology is to bluff your way to becoming a professor. The only way to make vast amounts of money from it is to write The Clan of the Cave Bear". Paul Bahn in Bluff your way in archaeology, page 14. This is not going to be an easy review to write. Having just today completed "the clan of the cave bear" for the second time (the first being when I was in school), I am in the midst of that feeling you get from just having read something truly special and amazing. How could I possibly do this book justice? I don't know if I will ever be able to manage this, but I am going to attempt to ...  Read the complete review

Clan of the Cave Bear was a book I read when I was about 17. Its become one of my favourites, one of the books I compulsively "comfort read" when I'm feeling down, and it is an absolutely magical tale, probably aimed at teenagers but suitable for adults as well. Written by archaeologist Jean M Auel, it is based in the time when Neanderthal men walked among us. A little Cro-Magnon girl loses her family in an earthquake and begins wandering, never stopping to eat and barely to drink. After being attacked by a Cave Lion she is taken in by a group of Neanderthal. They communicate mostly with sign language rather than in speech, and they possess a ...  Read the complete review

In The Clan of the Cave Bear, we are taken back 35,000 years to a time when two species of man lived on the earth amid icy glaciers and woolly mammoths. When five year old Ayla, a Cro-Magnon, is split from her parents by a shattering earthquake, she is taken in by a clan of Neanderthals. Iza, a medicine woman, and Creb, a powerful holy man, take in the sick and injured child. But her tall and thin body, long blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes, make her stand out from the rest of the clan who are both fearful of her and intimidated by her and the differences she has from them. Yet her intelligence and capability and the fact that she seems to bring luck wherever she ...  Read the complete review

On writing this novel, Jean M. Auel worked over a period of three years, working fourteen to sixteen hours a day, seven days a week to bring a story of a prehistoric nature to life. Her descriptive writing takes the reader into unknown territory making for a brilliant read! 'The Clan of The Cave Bear' is an amazing magical best seller. I read it when I was thirteen and couldn't stop! When I was younger I remembered watching 'The Clan of The Cavebear' on video. I could only remember it vaguely and when I was a bit older I watched it and was intrigued as well as moved! What a great film! Anyhow this review is not about the film although I do ...  Read the complete review