fullygoldy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fullygoldy) wrote2007-02-26 06:43 am
fullygoldy) wrote2007-02-26 06:43 am
Entry tags:
Books: Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
I've been waiting a long time for this book. It's number 5 in the Earth's Children series, which started with Clan of the Cave Bear in 1980. The next books followed in '82, '85, 90, and finally, 2002. Of course, I never read them right as they came out either, my mom had them in paperback to begin with, and I read the first 2 back-to-back. She couldn't wait for the 3rd to go to paperback though, so she got that one in hardcover. I was going to check out #5 from the library when it first came out, but never got around to it. The long delay between 4 & 5 I believe was due to a serious illness, but I can't find confirmation of that. A good friend had once told me Auel had died, and the series was never going to be completed. I didn't believe her at the time, and it turned out I was right, a good thing for both Auel and her 34 million fans.
Anyway, I really liked the first 2 books. There was a lot of fresh story to tell, a lot of historical background (technically pre-historical) to learn, and it was fascinating. Book 1 covered about 8-9 yrs of Ayla's life, book 2 picked up the next 3. The 3rd wasn't quite as good, because with the introduction of extra characters (and the excess drama that came with them) and Auel's penchant for over-repeating herself so you'll remember what happened before, there just wasn't alot of new story. I had hoped the 4th would be better, but it was about the same. Books 3 & 4 both covered about a year each. In my mind, Shelters of Stone was the last of the series, so I figured I'd get around to reading it eventually, just for the completion, ya know?
Anyway, I really liked the first 2 books. There was a lot of fresh story to tell, a lot of historical background (technically pre-historical) to learn, and it was fascinating. Book 1 covered about 8-9 yrs of Ayla's life, book 2 picked up the next 3. The 3rd wasn't quite as good, because with the introduction of extra characters (and the excess drama that came with them) and Auel's penchant for over-repeating herself so you'll remember what happened before, there just wasn't alot of new story. I had hoped the 4th would be better, but it was about the same. Books 3 & 4 both covered about a year each. In my mind, Shelters of Stone was the last of the series, so I figured I'd get around to reading it eventually, just for the completion, ya know?
So I finally had occasion to pick it up, because I wandered past a paperback display while looking for the ill-advised Halos. Ayla and Jondalar have finally made it back to Jondalar's home "cave" to meet his family and be mated. The first 2/3 to 3/4 of the book covers in excrutiating detail, the first 3-4 mos after their arrival. About 2/3 in, I realized all kinds of new tension and subplots had been started and were in no way going to be resolved by the end of the book based on the pacing. In the end, it did span about 9 mos, because we had to see the baby born, but I was right, nothing else was resolved enough for this to be the series' end. It turns out that six installments had been planned all along. If I had realized or remembered that before, I don't think I would have bothered with book 5 at all.
Also, the repetition thing drove me crazy. I mean, it's one thing to allude to something that happened in a previous book to get the reader up to speed. It's an entirely different thing to repeat whole scenes of previous books, and even whole scenes from the current book. For example, at one point, Ayla is being formally introduced to people of Jondalar's clan or "cave." They name all their ties in a formal introduction. Ayla's is something like "I am Ayla of the Mamutoi, Daughter of the Mammoth hearth, Chosen by the Cave Lion and Protected by the Cave Bear, and friend of horses and wolves." Jondalar's introduction names his Mother, former leader of the clan; her current mate, a Master Trader; her former mate and the man of Jondalar's hearth (no such thing as a "father" yet), who is now the leader of his own cave; Jondalar's dead brother; Jondalar's live brother, current leader of the clan; his sister "blessed of Doni" (standard designation for an unmated female); and the fact that he is a master flint-knapper. So what happens is, Ayla is presented to Jondalar's mother, and all Mom's ties are named, which are even more extensive than Son's, and then Ayla names all her ties back, and says "I greet you Marthona, and repeats about half of the ties to prove she was paying attention, and then she is presented to Step-dad, and all his ties are named, and she repeats all of her ties back, plus half of his, and this formal introduction goes on for 3-4 pages without ever once shortening Ayla's part. I can name her ties in my sleep! So okay, you get done with the family intro, and you think that's it, but NO. Then they go to the Summer Meeting, and every damn time she meets someone, you go through the entire rigamarole again. And yeah, you could think, "well, it's just a quirk. Auel's trying to be super realistic" but you'd be wrong, wrong, wrong, with a side of disappointedly wrong.
Because there's the whole repeating what happened thing, and I honestly don't know for who's benefit, unless Auel is being paid by the word. e.g. a little boy, Lanider, comes to look at Ayla's horses. She meets him there (greetings included!) and invites him to meet the horses, feed them carrots and pet them. Then she asks him to help her look after them from time to time during the Summer Meeting. At this point Jondalar comes on the scene, and says, "where have you been? Everyone is waiting for you!" "Well, Jondalar, Lanider here (greetings) wanted to see the horses, and she describes the entire meeting for him. They then leave for the meeting she's already late for, and when they arrive, Jondalar's brother or sister, whoever, says, "where have you been? Everyone is waiting for you!" So Ayla repeats the entire meeting with Lanider and the horses again. But wait! there's more! After she's done with her planned meeting (a demonstration of spear throwers), Lanider's mother comes up and says, "how do you know my son?" because of course any good mom is going to want to know why her 12 yr-old son is suddenly hanging out with the exotic newcomer. Aaaand... YES! She describes the original scene with Lanider in it's entirety! Oy, my aching head.
So even though the book is about 3 inches thick, I read it in record time, because I just kept skipping past all the repetitious parts. I told B that it was a good thing they never made any movie sequels to Clan of the Cave Bear (Darryl Hannah was Ayla), because by the time they got to the 5th & 6th, they'd only have to shoot 5 new scenes and tack them together with out takes from all the previous films. Who would pay to see that? So yeah, I probably won't read #6, if it ever gets published (5 yrs since #5 was released and counting). OTOH, it may take so long for it to come out that I'll have forgotten by then and read it anyway. Who knows? If I'm senile enough, I may actually need all the repetition, and end up enjoying myself. :)
Also, the repetition thing drove me crazy. I mean, it's one thing to allude to something that happened in a previous book to get the reader up to speed. It's an entirely different thing to repeat whole scenes of previous books, and even whole scenes from the current book. For example, at one point, Ayla is being formally introduced to people of Jondalar's clan or "cave." They name all their ties in a formal introduction. Ayla's is something like "I am Ayla of the Mamutoi, Daughter of the Mammoth hearth, Chosen by the Cave Lion and Protected by the Cave Bear, and friend of horses and wolves." Jondalar's introduction names his Mother, former leader of the clan; her current mate, a Master Trader; her former mate and the man of Jondalar's hearth (no such thing as a "father" yet), who is now the leader of his own cave; Jondalar's dead brother; Jondalar's live brother, current leader of the clan; his sister "blessed of Doni" (standard designation for an unmated female); and the fact that he is a master flint-knapper. So what happens is, Ayla is presented to Jondalar's mother, and all Mom's ties are named, which are even more extensive than Son's, and then Ayla names all her ties back, and says "I greet you Marthona, and repeats about half of the ties to prove she was paying attention, and then she is presented to Step-dad, and all his ties are named, and she repeats all of her ties back, plus half of his, and this formal introduction goes on for 3-4 pages without ever once shortening Ayla's part. I can name her ties in my sleep! So okay, you get done with the family intro, and you think that's it, but NO. Then they go to the Summer Meeting, and every damn time she meets someone, you go through the entire rigamarole again. And yeah, you could think, "well, it's just a quirk. Auel's trying to be super realistic" but you'd be wrong, wrong, wrong, with a side of disappointedly wrong.
Because there's the whole repeating what happened thing, and I honestly don't know for who's benefit, unless Auel is being paid by the word. e.g. a little boy, Lanider, comes to look at Ayla's horses. She meets him there (greetings included!) and invites him to meet the horses, feed them carrots and pet them. Then she asks him to help her look after them from time to time during the Summer Meeting. At this point Jondalar comes on the scene, and says, "where have you been? Everyone is waiting for you!" "Well, Jondalar, Lanider here (greetings) wanted to see the horses, and she describes the entire meeting for him. They then leave for the meeting she's already late for, and when they arrive, Jondalar's brother or sister, whoever, says, "where have you been? Everyone is waiting for you!" So Ayla repeats the entire meeting with Lanider and the horses again. But wait! there's more! After she's done with her planned meeting (a demonstration of spear throwers), Lanider's mother comes up and says, "how do you know my son?" because of course any good mom is going to want to know why her 12 yr-old son is suddenly hanging out with the exotic newcomer. Aaaand... YES! She describes the original scene with Lanider in it's entirety! Oy, my aching head.
So even though the book is about 3 inches thick, I read it in record time, because I just kept skipping past all the repetitious parts. I told B that it was a good thing they never made any movie sequels to Clan of the Cave Bear (Darryl Hannah was Ayla), because by the time they got to the 5th & 6th, they'd only have to shoot 5 new scenes and tack them together with out takes from all the previous films. Who would pay to see that? So yeah, I probably won't read #6, if it ever gets published (5 yrs since #5 was released and counting). OTOH, it may take so long for it to come out that I'll have forgotten by then and read it anyway. Who knows? If I'm senile enough, I may actually need all the repetition, and end up enjoying myself. :)