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A review by miss_anthrope
The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
1.0
Others can and will discuss the setting of this story and the way Auel describes the landscapes. Others will offer detailed character breakdowns. I instead will simply sum up the main plot for you:
"Two people described as deeply in love refuse to talk to each other for 700 pages."
That's it. That is this book. (Disclaimer: it may not be exactly 700 pages. My copy is 784 pages long and I can't recall exactly where they forget the most basic skills of communication.)
It is absurd and infuriating. It feels like a deliberate act by the author to pad the word count. The entire drama could have been resolved in a single conversation the morning after Ayla's adoption ceremony (or any time that week... that month... that season...). Ayla and Jondalar are adults. They know about the difficulties in cross-cultural communication and how important it is to communicate clearly (see the second book for their learning of this). Their actions in this book are completely out of character and as a result I was unable to get invested in their "struggles".
"Two people described as deeply in love refuse to talk to each other for 700 pages."
That's it. That is this book. (Disclaimer: it may not be exactly 700 pages. My copy is 784 pages long and I can't recall exactly where they forget the most basic skills of communication.)
It is absurd and infuriating. It feels like a deliberate act by the author to pad the word count. The entire drama could have been resolved in a single conversation the morning after Ayla's adoption ceremony (or any time that week... that month... that season...). Ayla and Jondalar are adults. They know about the difficulties in cross-cultural communication and how important it is to communicate clearly (see the second book for their learning of this). Their actions in this book are completely out of character and as a result I was unable to get invested in their "struggles".