Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The upcoming publication of Auel's fifth book has renewed my interest in the EarthChildren series. I'm now re-reading the books and reviewing the first, which I originally read almost 18 years ago. Am I allowed to reminisce like this? Am I out of bounds? Well, don't try to stop me. This book is still clear in my mind after nearly two decades. In the early 80's, I thumbed through it at an Albertson's checkout line, finished the first chapter, and told my parents about it. I received it a week later for my birthday...and loved every minute of the story. Jean Auel's narrative powers swept me into a past rich and alive with people, creatures, smells, and sights that are immediately familiar, yet breathtakingly foreign. That's what first caught my attention. Then I began to care about Ayla, the skinny, pale child caught in an earthquake. I followed her story with keen interest and ached over her insecurities and alienation. This is a story about people with all the feelings and emotions of you and me. And though some tried to ban the book for one particular scene of forced sex, I found it in no way glorifying the act. In fact, as a teenager, it made me more aware of a female's struggle in a male-dominated society. I'll never forget the experience--indeed, that's what it was!--of reading this novel. To go back and relive the story of Ayla all over again is a treat. I can't wait for "The Shelters of Stone." Only rarely does an author create a world so rich and believable that we could almost call it home.
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