The Clan of the Cave Bear

Earth's Children, Book 1

By: Jean M. Auel

Narrated by: Sandra Burr

Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves The Clan of the Cave Bear. A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind.

To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly - she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.

Listen to more in the Earth's Children series.

©1980 by Jean M. Auel. (P)1986 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Imaginative, exciting." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Jean Auel has performed a minor miracle." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Great Story, unremarkable narrator

What did you love best about The Clan of the Cave Bear?

The actual story and Jean Auel's writing. Also, interesting and in depth characters.

How could the performance have been better?

Better narrator (someone like Davina Porter, Lorelei King or Jim Dale)

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

There is a movie but if there weren't my tag line would be, 'Read the books you lazy fool, the books are always better'.

The Clan of The Cave Bear

Would you listen to The Clan of the Cave Bear again? Why?

Yes. Good book.

Any additional comments?

I read this book over thirty years ago. It came on sale so I thought I'd listen again. I liked it better this time than I did the first time.

Couldn't take ears away

loved it. loved it. shows power of never giving up. looking forward to the next

Better than I remembered

I read this book as a teenager and listening to it brought back positive memories. A female protagonist who was rralistic, well written and done before all the pc nonsense. Highly recommended.

some audio issues

very good book! the audio quality is subpar, but I got used to it. Audible should look into getting a newer version

all these books are excellent reads.

I have read all of the stories and I thought they were very good reads

Wonderful book

Could not put this story downl. Can not wait to read the next book. Loved it.

Good

I give five stars not for story (which is like any tale of the vicissitudes and magic of being a woman in any time) and not for the performance (The diverse cast of characters and feelings was expressed in, at best, 4 different voices for women and maybe two for men, which unfortunately added to the pedantic, stereotype driven nature of the story) but for the way it made me think. The anthropology of our race viewed through a woman's coming of age story, which took care to lead the character through a host of fascinating "what if" scenarios, was thought provoking and insightful to say the least. Viewing romance, love, and family through evolutionary biology, even just one person's (likely flawed) imaginative and educated perspective, is an exercise in thoughtful observation and introspection for the reader. I am more curious than ever to read scholarly work in anthropology, and I have no real personal education on the subject. However, now I have an intuitive backdrop and a primary perception to ground and map further knowledge to. I am personally invested in that knowledge, in the life of a Neanderthal or Cro Magnon person, in a way a picture of old bones has never reached me before. That is the treasure in this novel.

Great story!

I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed this story. The title wasn't interesting to me. I had heard it was good (a very long time ago). I really look forward to listening to the rest of the series. I liked the narrator too. She did a great job with the character voices.

Wonderful Saga!

I had this book, the hardback copy, for a long time. I had heard it was a good read, but the book was so heavy I never picked it up to read. I sold my copy. Downloaded as Kindle copy and it became a simple read. I, also. downloaded the Audible version to listen to as I read. The voice of Sandra Burr was melodic and kept my interest, even when my eyes got tired.

This is deep enough that I must continue into the next book: The Valley of the Horses. Already downloaded so that my memory of the end of the last book will fade. I will not say more than that for fear of committing a spoiler.

Glad I will now own this so I can go back and re-read it sometime.