Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Mammoth Hunters - 5 stars

Summary of The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel:
The authenticity of background detail, the lilting prose rhythms and the appealing conceptual audacity that won many fans for The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of the Horses continue to work their spell in this third installment of Auel's projected six-volume Earth's Children saga set in Ice Age Europe. The heroine, 18-year-old Ayla, cursed and pronounced dead by the "flathead" clan that reared her, now takes her chances with the mammoth-hunting Mamutoi, attended by her faithful lover, Jondalar. Gradually overcoming the prejudice aroused by her flathead connection, Ayla wins acceptance into the new clan through her powers as a healer, her shamanistic potential, her skill with spear and slingshot and her way with animals (she rides a horse, domesticates a wolf cub, both "firsts," it would seem, and even rides a lion). She also wins the heart of a bone-carving artist of "sparkling wit" (not much in evidence), which forces her to make a painful choice between the curiously complaisant Jondalar, her first instructor in love's delights, and this more charismatic fellow. The story is lyric rather than dramatic, and Ayla and her lovers are projections of a romantic rather than a historical imagination, but readers caught up in the charm of Auel's story probably won't care.


I had a hard time rereading this book, because of memories of the emotional anguish I felt the first time. It really captures your heart, and your mind. I cried the first time, and the second time I wanted to hurry through the parts that I knew were coming up and would make me cry. After reading this book my emotions would be influenced for hours afterward. If the book made me sad, I would be sad afterwards and needed to be comforted. There are few books that can do this to me, and it really shows the power of the story Auel has built up. I highly recommend it.

2 comments:

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