Pues a mí esta serie en su día me gustó bastante. Creo que la autora está bastante bien documentada en temas prehistóricos.
Y trata de forma creíble el tema de la posible convivencia e interacción entre Sapiens y Neandertales.

Yesterday was one of those moments where I finished a book and went "...Damn, I wish I'd known while reading this that it would make it onto that really short list of books I wish I could read again for the first time." I probably would have savoured it more.

Buddy read with Caught Between Pages. Thanks for the lovely discussions about unlovely things :)
And this book is full of unlovely things.

Ayla is a cro-magnon child separated from her people. She is taken in by a clan of Neanderthals, less evolved than the cro-magnon, and raised to live by their methods. It's equally a story of love and abuse. Love from some of her newfound family, but abuse from a man who can't understand her desire for more than her assigned role as a female in the clan.

For anyone else who doesn't know too much about Neanderthals vs Cro Magnons, like me, all you have to know is that the cro-magnon (like Ayla) were of the same species as us, and that the Neanderthals (who raised Ayla) were a separate species, though we do share some of their DNA from interbreeding. The cro-magnons eventually replaced the Neanderthals when the Neanderthals failed to keep evolving.

n  n

Clan of the Cave Bear had the power to make me absolutely livid, without making me angry at the author or the book itself. This book is ultimately one girl's fight to fit in and her journey towards a greater equality than what she's been told she has the right to. So of course it's full of all kinds of horrible treatment of women, and of course it's going to make a modern reader a bit frustrated, but (as in my case) completely fascinate them as well. It's so interesting to read about the clan's reasoning for dividing the gender roles so clearly. It makes sense in a way given that species' limited ability to learn and retain too many skills, but it's really satisfying to see such a great character challenge that.

I think that dynamic is what made this book so riveting to me. Here you have this really advanced girl being raised by a species who are essentially backwards by comparison. Despite trying her best to conform to their ways, that extra little bit of forebrain power sparks a rebellious nature in her which pretty much leads to every critical point in the novel. And maybe it's just me, but that is so freaking cool. And kind of tragic.

The writing:
The writing is a bit simplistic and kind of gets in the way at times. I read the sentence "She woke up screaming!" three times in this book. Why is there an exclamation mark in prose outside of dialogue? There are also some painstakingly long sections about herbal plant applications, and many of the concepts and ideals of the clan are repeated ad nauseam.

The characters:
Ayla is such a well-developed protagonist. It's nice to be able to so firmly identify myself as being on a character's side from the first few chapters in a book. Usually an author has to convince me to like their characters but this one was so easy. I just love her.
The antagonist is perfectly horrible.

This is an amazing story and series. I didn't think the topic would be interesting but I'm thankful I was wrong.

Jean Auel is masterful in her ability to create a story that has you transported in time and live vicariously in Ayla's world. I found myself gripping the steering wheel in my car as I listened to her struggle for survival.

You will not be disappointed. This is truly a 5-star rated experience.

Emotional, interesting, and it left a deep impact that won't soon be forgotten. My dear sweet mother ♡ suggested that I read this series so...on to the next one.

Incredible book. I did get a little annoyed every time the narrative voice felt it had to stop and point out that the Clan had reached their genetic conclusion, and of course would be surpassed by a newer (and possibly greater) species on earth’s stage. As given it was written by a member of that newer species it kind of felt a little like gloating. Still, five out five regardless.

First review of the year! Very interesting and entertaining, not sure how accurate but i feel like a learned alot. Who really knows what neanderthal were like? but I'm sure it's well researched and included all the knowledge available in the 1980's. The Clan of the cave bear main flaw is predictability.

Ayla is a modern human left orphaned by an earthquake. She is on the verge of death when she is adopted by a neanderthal clan (the clan of the cave bear.) She is really lucky because the woman who adopts her is the head medicine woman of the top clan in the area. this is like being adopted by royalty. Even if the clan has no royalty, it is VERY status oriented. Iza is sister of the clan leader and the clan magician, and they believe her lucky from the beginning. Just because Ayla got a good shake doesn't mean she has an easy time. Afterall, she is so ugly tall, blonde, and light eyed. Yeah, ugly is relative! Worse of all she gains an enemy the leader's son and one day leader Broud. Who is a real small minded male. There's a feminist undercurrent to this i enjoyed and thought aged well after 40 years. Ayla grow up and learns to be a medicine woman herself. performing a ceremony at the clan gathering that happens every 7 years. which was my favorite part of the book. she even has a baby half modern human half Neanderthal. Her son Dirk maybe the future of the human race. i have seen a nova special proposing interbreeding as the answer to what happened to the Neanderthals. Still not sure about that but the theory reflects modern sensibilities. Unfortunately, Broud becomes leader and casts Ayla out of the clan at the end setting up the next book!

Overall, i found the writing entertaining but not compelling. i want to read all 6 in the series but I'm not in a hurry. so, i think I'll make it last and read one a year based on season.

It's been about a decade since I read this story and re-reading it was even better.

Orphaned Cro-Magnon child adopted by a clan of Neanderthals. Well researched and very descriptive, detailing what life might've been like 35,000 years ago. Not sure I'd have survived long!
First read at 13 (30+ years ago) when there was only 3 books (so far) in the series. Anyone who read them back then will remember the looooong wait between each subsequent book. Decades later, still a favourite.

Ayla is just 5 years old when she loses her entire family and everyone she has ever known to a cave in caused by an earthquake. Completely alone and without the skills she needs to survive she wanders aimlessly until she is injured by a cave lion and she is close to death when members of the Clan of the Cave Bear find her. Iza is a medicine woman and although the child is one of the "Others" (a Cro-Magnon human) and very different to the Clan (who are Neanderthals) she is unable to walk away from a child who is in pain. With the permission of the Clan leader Brun she takes the young child with her and helps to heal her wounds. Ayla now finds herself living amongst a people who are very different to the ones she was born to, first she must learn to communicate but the hardest thing is to adopt their traditions and behave in the manor that is expected of her. She grows to love those who care for her but she makes an enemy of Broud, the future leader of the Clan, which is sure to cause problems for her in the future.

I have been a huge fan of this series for about 10 years now and despite the fact I've read all of the books at least 5 times I still love The Clan of the Cave Bear as much as I did the very first time I read it. Set around 35,000 years ago at the time of the last Ice Age this is the first book in an epic series that follows Ayla on her journey from child to adult. This series is like taking a step back in time and it feels like you have experienced everything that Ayla goes through right alongside her.

Ayla is without a doubt one of my favorite fictional characters, she suffers so much hardship but she never gives in and she always fights to survive. Her life with the Clan isn't easy, their traditions are very different to those she was brought up with and she finds it hard to understand why she isn't allowed to do the things she wants to do. She is adopted by Iza who is an incredibly skilled medicine woman and Creb who is the Clan's Mog-Ur (spiritual leader). Iza and Creb are both fantastic characters, they have taken in a young child despite her differences and do their best to love her and keep her safe. I can assure you you'll never think of Neanderthals in the same way after getting to know the members of the Clan, each of them are so realistic it feels like you have actually met them.

Jean M. Auel's descriptions of the Clan's way of life and the land in which they live are fascinating and show the amount of research that has gone into the creation of the series. She manages to impart an incredible amount of information but it is done in such a way that I didn't once feel bored when reading in fact I loved learning about the medicinal uses for plants, the tools they use and how they were made. Although this series is marketed as young adult I would recommend it for older teens and adults. The Clan of the Cave Bear does contain a rape scene that some may find difficult to read but this isn't included for dramatic effect, it fits in well with the story and I believe was something that needed to be included. This series shows all sides of life both good and bad which is one of the things that makes it so interesting to read. I have no doubt that after reading this story you will be just as hooked as I am and I'm sure you'll end up devouring the rest of the series!

I could easily sit between a red-faced evolutionist and a screaming creationist, both arguing around me, and quite contentedly finish any book I was reading.

I'm no Louis Leakey, people.

I'm no Tammy Faye Baker, either.

I am, in fact, an anthropological airhead, and arguing with me about creationism or evolution is like trying to convince me to become interested in my car's transmission. Whatever the hell that is.

Ain't going to happen, folks.

I figure. . . if I don't personally have the ability to prove or disprove a theory (or identify a transmission), I'm just going to sit back, relax and focus on the stories.

I love stories.

And, since it turned out that my end-of-summer fantasy of having sex with Viggo Mortensen in a cave off of the Mediterranean Sea wasn't going to happen, I started searching for a story that would have an adventurous feel to it. And, you know. . . maybe some cave sex.

Neanderthal cave sex.

Now, if you're a creationist and you're getting worried about my language here, why don't we just replace the word Neanderthal for ex-boyfriends or my high school baseball team?

And if you're an anthropologist and you're getting worried that I know no concrete facts about the evolution of man, I apologize for my inability to truly understand that a Neanderthal is something different from an ex-boyfriend or my high school baseball team.

Everybody feeling good now? Sort of? More confused than ever?

So, back to the question. . . that you never asked. . . and possibly would never even wonder . . . did I find excellent cave sex in this book of Neanderthals (or primitive man, or whatever in hell these little sloped forehead, hairy pygmies are supposed to be)?

Well, does this answer your question?

In this primitive society, sex was as natural and unrestrained as sleeping or eating. Children learned
as they learned other skills and customs, by observing adults, and they played at intercourse as they mimicked other activities from a young age. Often a boy who reached puberty, but had not yet made his first kill and existed in a limbo between child and adult, penetrated a girl child even before she reached menarche. Hymens were pierced young, though males were a little fearful if blood was spilled and quickly ignored the girl if it happened

Ain't nothing sexy about that paragraph.

Ms. Auel. . . do you understand that I've been home with my children all summer? No sleepaway camp, no evenings out on the town?

Nada, lady.

It's been a long, hot summer. And I don't mean sexy hot. I mean. . . damn, it's been in the 90s forever.

I wanted to read about cave sex, not these little freaks.

And what's with their dialogue reading like Shakespearean soliloquies, when you clearly point out that these people can't do more than grunt and move their hands in rudimentary gestures?

How now, Ms. Auel?

Why do the Neanderthals talk with such sophistication?

And why did you need to take 10 pages to describe a green leaf (that wasn't quite green, but gray, and transparent and fluttering in the breeze, with spots on it)? Just write the word “leaf” and let's move on.

Ack! I can't wait to return my copy.

I'm using some hand signals right now, Ms. Auel. Can you see them?

I don't like Neanderthals. They're awful. So's this book.

I think I do prefer the Adam and Eve theory; they're like the Barbie and Ken of the ancient world, and I bet they had sex in a proper hotel.

And, just for the record, I hope the glorious angel Gabriel flies down from Heaven on a pterodactyl some day, and lands right on a street in New York City.

I feel like we'd all shut up at the same time and hum in peaceful wonder at our awesome existence.

Plus, his stories would be amazing.

I read this and the next 2 in the series when I was in high school in the 80’s. It was pure guilty pleasure. I was fascinated by this world Auel had created. And I was singularly moved by the scene at the end when a frustrated Ayla communicates in the sign language of the Clan to those who don’t understand their intelligence and their language’s beauty. Who don’t understand that they have language at all. That scene and that feeling are still with me after 36 years.

Man labai didelį įspūdį padarė kiek autorė įdėjo pastangų ir laiko šiai knygų serijai parašyti. Įdomūs faktai, kaip žmonės gyveno, medžiojo, keliavo, vadovavo, kokių tradicijų ir tikėjimų laikėsi. Ši knyga - kaip istorijos vadovėlis romano forma. Vietomis sunkiai skaitėsi, bet kuo toliau tuo susidomėjimas vis augo. Pats siužetas įdomus, maža mergaitė, vienintelė išgyvenusi po žemės drebėjimo. Ją beklaidžiojančią randa kita gentis, mažiau išsivysčiusi. Ji priglaudžiama geros širdies gydytojos. Tik visi mato, mergaitė kitokia, vikresnė, sumanesnė, aukštesnė.. Jiems ji kelia pasibjaurėjimą ir baimę. Su ja elgiamasi ypač griežtai, kai kurie jos nekenčia visa širdimi, bet ji sugeba prisitaikyti ir netgi pelno pagarbą.

Knygoje galbūt ne tiek daug veiksmo, kiek skrupulingo gamtos ir genties gyvenimo sąlygų aprašymo. Mamutų gyvavimo laikai. Tikrai patiks ne kiekvienam, bet perskaityti manau verta, bent jau tą pirmąją dalį :)