The Clan of The Cave Bear- Jean M.Auel

For many months my mother had ranted and raved about this book to not only me, but to others who she knew enjoyed reading. And for many years I had been reluctant in reading in, stubborn to believe that it was not my style of book and that I would therefore not get into it, and not enjoy it. But after my Grandma started to read it and also then said how good it was, I felt it was perhaps time to drop the stubborness and accept the fact that these days I have a much wider and more accepting reading width, and that perhaps it was time to step away from the dark fantasy novels for a while and appreciate the words of something knew. And boy was I glad that I did.

The Clan of The Cave Bears follows the story of a young girl called Ayla who is one of "the others", and her life with "The Clan" the ones who have adopted her and taken her in as if one of there own. It follows her trials and tribulations through life, through discovering her sense of self and what is considered normal and right in life. In many ways it very much fits into todays modern society and is something that we should therefore all be able to relate and connect to. Yet the book is set in the times that we perhaps all forget, the times of the cavemen and mammoths, the time that many scientists would consider as being the evolution of human kind. The book at first is perhaps a little difficult to grasp and understand if your not really one for historical set pages, but if you hold on and perciever with it, you'll actually find that it has a lot more to offer than your basic average book these days.

It is evident and clear right from the beginning that the author, Jean M. Auel, has done a lot of research into the topic of the book, and though we may never know if it is correct or accurate, it gives the reader a chance to evolve in there thoughts and opinions. It gives them a whole new insight into a world that is very much a huge mystery to us, whilst giving us an active and well written story. Ayla is a wonderful character, and right from the beginning of the novel I felt that I was able to deeply connect with her thoughts, emotions and feelings. Almost as if I was able to become a part of her and play out her story with her rather than just read her. She faces things that many of us could actually place within society today such as the over empowerment of men, the abuse and neglect, and the way that out actions and looks are frowned upon because they are not the norm.

This was something that I very much liked about the book because it gave that huge sense of reality, whilst also not straying from the story. It was long and daunting perhaps at first, but the fact that it draws you in only makes you wonder what the rest of the series has to offer, what other adventures could occur when so much seems to have been covered in this first novel. For me Ayla was a character of strength and courage, a character that represented that its ok to be weak and defenseless, but that from this we can learn, develop and grow stronger. It shows that life has its battles but that if we look for a sign, we will always know that somet of these things are just meant to be.

With every good novel though, the book draws smiles and tears from you, as well as anger, happiness and awe. Anger for example was particularly drawn when reading about the character Broud. An egostitical male who believes that he is right and higher than others, that his thoughts and opinions are always correct and who shows his hatred and jealousy of Ayla right from when he becomes a Man. The character leaves you with a sense of wanting to grab him by the shoulders and to slap him round the face, just to see if it will make him see sense and make him see that in society we are all equal. But if we look back over History, actually there was a huge divide between the euality of Men and Woman for a long time, so of course why would it not have started back in the cavemen times.

There is so much this book has to offer, that if I were to carry on writing, I could seriously never stop. I think thats the main advantage of the book though, it never gets slow, it never gets boring. There is always something new to offer, and so many of these things, like I said earlier, slot into the ways of modern society today. And I think that it is because of this, that anyone would be able to read and enjoy this book, as long as there willing to hold out on it and give it a chance. I think that if you get the chance to spend the spare pennies on this book, then you should. I think its something that you won't regret.