moonchild_88's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book but it has so many issues. From the white supremacy to the pseudoscience, and so much more.
Firstly, Ayla is a white, blonde blue eyed child, who is so much smarter and better than the brown, close minded dumbdumbs. Insane. Not only were some neanderthals also white and blonde. We don't know how intelligent they were. I understand that this book was written in the 80s, and therefore she couldn't have written the story with knowledge she simply didn't have. The neanderthals likely didn't go extinct as opposed to us because we were smarter or capable of abstract thinking. It's probably because we were more aggressive, and wiped them out. Even if Auel had no way of knowing this, the adjudication of the horrible traits to the neanderthals is entirely her doing.
Ayla, the blonde-haired goddess, is basically a genius, who not only invents everything, but also deciphers conception. Give her some time and she will single-handedly advance them to the bronze age. It's ridiculous even before taking into consideration that she is ten. On that note, she is ten dear god. I get it, people didn't live as long back then. But why did I have to read about her being sexually assaulted multiple times? It was so upsetting. And then again with Uba, who is only seven. It was absolutely horrifying. It is true that the history of humanity is that of rape. The book has some decent moments when it comes to the relationship between women and men. The realization that Ayla has of men being trash is all too familiar. She also talks about a time were women hadn't yet been subjugated by men. But, considering what I heard from multiple sources about the later books turning pornographic, and considering Ayla's age, I'm going to doubt Auel's intentions with the scenes in this book.
Another moment that makes me question Auel's feminism even harder is when Ayla is being constantly compared to the meeker, born to serve brown women. She also has some pro-life propaganda. Ayla, who again, is TEN, so desperately wants to have a child. She fights to have her baby even though it's a dangerous pregnancy. Please.
The writing is also an issue. There is so much repetition, and over explaining. She thinks the reader is as dumb as her neanderthals. This book could and should have been so much shorter. Another issue I had with the writing was that she would cut the narrative short to include a scientific info dump, as if this was a documentary. It is not. This book is categorized as historical fiction, but personally I would place it at the fantasy section. Not only does this book deal with magic and spirits, but it also deals with some genuinely wild pseudoscience. She explains that the large head of the neanderthals is due to their large brains. Fair enough. The large brains are due to their extraordinary memory that allows them to recall all the information learned by their ancestors. Be for real. It's also why the neanderthals are so reluctant to change their ways, they don't want to learn because their heads will keep growing. I don't even know what to say. Going back to the writing, the info dumps make it so that you are pulled out of the story abruptly, and instead of making it an immersive experience, you're forced to watch from afar. It would have been much better to present the information in a way that the people in the story could have understood it. Like hypothermia being a cold sickness or something like that.
To be fair to Auel, she did have a monumental task in writing this book. She created a whole culture, one I don't much care for, but she did nonetheless. The period of time is a vacuum in history and she filled it to the best of her ability. Also, a lot of the information available at the time has been disproved. This will probably continue to happen as we approach anthropology with an awareness of the bias present in researchers past and present. There also have been things Auel wrote as fiction, that were later proved to be true. Like the mixing of neanderthals and cro-magnons.
Like I said, I enjoyed the book. It was incredibly simple at times, which made it very readable in my opinion. What I liked most was the found family. The love between the people at Creb's hearth was moving. The displays of humanity that one can recognize in a setting so different of one's own, well, they were touching. This is my favourite aspect of anthropology. Iza being burried with the medicinal flowers she used was sad and lovely. Burials 9f the past are such a fascinating thing. And act of love we perpetuate today. I also found the moments of genuine joy, often the ones shared with babies to be so wholesome and sweet. We have always been people, and babies have always been adorable.
It's a pity, I genuinely wanted to love this book, and at times I did, but it has some glaring issues. I want to know what will happen to Ayla next, but I think the issues will only grow so I don't know if I will pick up the next book in the series. This being an unfinished series for a long time now also makes me not want to continue.
Firstly, Ayla is a white, blonde blue eyed child, who is so much smarter and better than the brown, close minded dumbdumbs. Insane. Not only were some neanderthals also white and blonde. We don't know how intelligent they were. I understand that this book was written in the 80s, and therefore she couldn't have written the story with knowledge she simply didn't have. The neanderthals likely didn't go extinct as opposed to us because we were smarter or capable of abstract thinking. It's probably because we were more aggressive, and wiped them out. Even if Auel had no way of knowing this, the adjudication of the horrible traits to the neanderthals is entirely her doing.
Ayla, the blonde-haired goddess, is basically a genius, who not only invents everything, but also deciphers conception. Give her some time and she will single-handedly advance them to the bronze age. It's ridiculous even before taking into consideration that she is ten. On that note, she is ten dear god. I get it, people didn't live as long back then. But why did I have to read about her being sexually assaulted multiple times? It was so upsetting. And then again with Uba, who is only seven. It was absolutely horrifying. It is true that the history of humanity is that of rape. The book has some decent moments when it comes to the relationship between women and men. The realization that Ayla has of men being trash is all too familiar. She also talks about a time were women hadn't yet been subjugated by men. But, considering what I heard from multiple sources about the later books turning pornographic, and considering Ayla's age, I'm going to doubt Auel's intentions with the scenes in this book.
Another moment that makes me question Auel's feminism even harder is when Ayla is being constantly compared to the meeker, born to serve brown women. She also has some pro-life propaganda. Ayla, who again, is TEN, so desperately wants to have a child. She fights to have her baby even though it's a dangerous pregnancy. Please.
The writing is also an issue. There is so much repetition, and over explaining. She thinks the reader is as dumb as her neanderthals. This book could and should have been so much shorter. Another issue I had with the writing was that she would cut the narrative short to include a scientific info dump, as if this was a documentary. It is not. This book is categorized as historical fiction, but personally I would place it at the fantasy section. Not only does this book deal with magic and spirits, but it also deals with some genuinely wild pseudoscience. She explains that the large head of the neanderthals is due to their large brains. Fair enough. The large brains are due to their extraordinary memory that allows them to recall all the information learned by their ancestors. Be for real. It's also why the neanderthals are so reluctant to change their ways, they don't want to learn because their heads will keep growing. I don't even know what to say. Going back to the writing, the info dumps make it so that you are pulled out of the story abruptly, and instead of making it an immersive experience, you're forced to watch from afar. It would have been much better to present the information in a way that the people in the story could have understood it. Like hypothermia being a cold sickness or something like that.
To be fair to Auel, she did have a monumental task in writing this book. She created a whole culture, one I don't much care for, but she did nonetheless. The period of time is a vacuum in history and she filled it to the best of her ability. Also, a lot of the information available at the time has been disproved. This will probably continue to happen as we approach anthropology with an awareness of the bias present in researchers past and present. There also have been things Auel wrote as fiction, that were later proved to be true. Like the mixing of neanderthals and cro-magnons.
Like I said, I enjoyed the book. It was incredibly simple at times, which made it very readable in my opinion. What I liked most was the found family. The love between the people at Creb's hearth was moving. The displays of humanity that one can recognize in a setting so different of one's own, well, they were touching. This is my favourite aspect of anthropology. Iza being burried with the medicinal flowers she used was sad and lovely. Burials 9f the past are such a fascinating thing. And act of love we perpetuate today. I also found the moments of genuine joy, often the ones shared with babies to be so wholesome and sweet. We have always been people, and babies have always been adorable.
It's a pity, I genuinely wanted to love this book, and at times I did, but it has some glaring issues. I want to know what will happen to Ayla next, but I think the issues will only grow so I don't know if I will pick up the next book in the series. This being an unfinished series for a long time now also makes me not want to continue.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. The author did a great job of making me care about the characters. I did feel like there were times when the scientific data didn't flow well with the story, and that the author was trying to prove how well researched she is. It is nice to finally be reading these books after years of seeing my stepmom reading them! One other strange thing was that I was not a fan of the ebook including excerpts of ALL the books in the series after the end of book 1. Why would I want to be spoiled by reading excerpts of books 3-5 when I haven't read book 2 yet? Very strange.
steffyt2's review against another edition
4.0
Definite got better as it went on can't wait for number two
cdelduca's review against another edition
3.0
Though this book was a page turner for me, it lacked the transparency in Ayla that would have allowed me to become emotionally attached. She grew as a person, but all insights to her personality were surface level.
I appreciated the creation of a Neanderthal social structure and how an orphaned outsider could potentially fit into it. Ayla's lack of subservient nature changed the personalities of those around her, for better and for worse. This story heavily emphasizes genetic makeup in the nature vs nurture argument, and it lost ground in believability for me because of it. Genetic predispositions would not allow Ayla's son to find the word "mama," especially if she had forgotten the word herself.
I especially enjoyed the idea of historic clan memory being accessible for reference when the clan needed guidance. I also enjoyed the symbolic contrast in the "others" having a mindset that was geared more towards the future, but again I think that this exploration/explanation was fairly shallow.
I would recommend this books as fairly thought-provoking, but it lacks the depth in exploration of these ideas for that recommendation to be an enthusiastic one.
I appreciated the creation of a Neanderthal social structure and how an orphaned outsider could potentially fit into it. Ayla's lack of subservient nature changed the personalities of those around her, for better and for worse. This story heavily emphasizes genetic makeup in the nature vs nurture argument, and it lost ground in believability for me because of it. Genetic predispositions would not allow Ayla's son to find the word "mama," especially if she had forgotten the word herself.
I especially enjoyed the idea of historic clan memory being accessible for reference when the clan needed guidance. I also enjoyed the symbolic contrast in the "others" having a mindset that was geared more towards the future, but again I think that this exploration/explanation was fairly shallow.
I would recommend this books as fairly thought-provoking, but it lacks the depth in exploration of these ideas for that recommendation to be an enthusiastic one.
leannaaker's review against another edition
4.0
Fun story (with a strong female character) about an ancient tribe. Ayla is one of the "others," meaning she was not born into the tribe. She looks radically different and has different inclinations, but is rapidly accepted into the tribe and afforded privileges even the other clan-born women in the tribe don't have. This is a story of tradition versus change; cultural mores versus what is right. While the writing seems sophomoric and basic, it contributes to this basic level of understanding at a tribal level. Definitely will read more in the series.
booksarah21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alanathehangry's review against another edition
1.0
This book bored me to tears. If this was nonfiction, it would've made more sense. It was amazing how the author took us back through time and gave an intricate display of times past. But, no, this was fiction.
Most of it felt largely unnecessary. It was incredibly over-written. It felt that she wrote each sentence at least three different ways, when we only needed one (or maybe not any at all).
To her credit, I cared about the characters: Ayla, Isa, and Creb. And I hated Broud. So she did a good job developing them in that way. It felt like family. Ayla's character arc was decent I guess. The story ended flat for me.
I suppose I'll return to the fact that I was just bored throughout almost the entire book. However, it wasn't bad enough for me to stop. It was bad enough for me to step outside the room for a few moments while I was listening, though. So happy to be done with it.
But still, mad props to the author for the level of dedication to the research and making that time period come alive.
Most of it felt largely unnecessary. It was incredibly over-written. It felt that she wrote each sentence at least three different ways, when we only needed one (or maybe not any at all).
To her credit, I cared about the characters: Ayla, Isa, and Creb. And I hated Broud. So she did a good job developing them in that way. It felt like family. Ayla's character arc was decent I guess. The story ended flat for me.
I suppose I'll return to the fact that I was just bored throughout almost the entire book. However, it wasn't bad enough for me to stop. It was bad enough for me to step outside the room for a few moments while I was listening, though. So happy to be done with it.
But still, mad props to the author for the level of dedication to the research and making that time period come alive.
karaklos's review against another edition
2.0
This book has been in my stash for a long time and I had a difficult time getting through it. The clan and the story were just not believable to me.
The story was fairly predictable and became a repeated cycle of the main character getting in trouble and then someone bailing her out.
Many of the details of the clans capacity for knowledge conflicted with their thoughts and actions. Also the idea that they could not grow as a people seemed to conflict with actual events.
There were many gruesome scenes in the book and horrible treatment of women that were hard for me to read. How is this is considered a YA book?
While lengthy descriptions of the environment are something I typically enjoy, in this case they seemed to dominate the book. Whole years would pass by where you didn’t know what the main character encountered and felt but you knew every kind of plant and flower that was present or how a tool was made.
The story was fairly predictable and became a repeated cycle of the main character getting in trouble and then someone bailing her out.
Many of the details of the clans capacity for knowledge conflicted with their thoughts and actions. Also the idea that they could not grow as a people seemed to conflict with actual events.
There were many gruesome scenes in the book and horrible treatment of women that were hard for me to read. How is this is considered a YA book?
While lengthy descriptions of the environment are something I typically enjoy, in this case they seemed to dominate the book. Whole years would pass by where you didn’t know what the main character encountered and felt but you knew every kind of plant and flower that was present or how a tool was made.
8laaura8's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0