The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (novel #227)

…her people were newcomers to their land – but since they arrived things had been changing. They seemed to bring change with them.

 

Clan of the Cave Bear is a novel set in prehistoric times on the north coast of what is now the Black Sea. It follows the lives of the Cave Bear clan and the introduction into the Clan of an orphaned female child of the “others.”

 

The Cave Bear are likely Neanderthals, and the Others are Cro-Magnon, though the author makes no such distinction in the context. This is the first in Auel’s six-book Earth’s Children series.

 

The story opens when the child Ayla is left homeless and orphaned by a severe earthquake. She wanders aimlessly and is attacked by a cave lion. She survives by sheltering in a crevice too narrow for the predator to reach her. She is near death from exposure, loss of blood, and starvation when the Clan finds her. They are indifferent and sure to leave her until the aged medicine woman, who has some status, gives aid and is allowed to carry the child with them as they search for a new cave. They were also left homeless by the earthquake.

 

Most of the clan are indifferent, and some are hostile to the strange child, but Ayla has two allies. The medicine woman Iza, and her brother Creb who also has special status as the shaman or mog-ur. Creb convinces the tribal leader, Brun, that Ayla is lucky and should be allowed to remain with them. Over time, she is accepted by most, even loved and admired by some, but she always has one fearsome enemy, Broud, heir apparent leader.

 

Creb is not only mog-ur, he is The Mog-ur, the most revered mog-ur amongst all Cave Bear tribes. He senses that Ayla’s coming portends upheaval.

 

As Mog-ur sat alone on the open plain watching the last of the torches sputter and die, he thought of the strange girl Iza had found and his uneasiness grew until it became a physical discomfort. Her kind had been met before, but only recently in his concept of reckoning, and not many of the chance meetings had been pleasant. Where they had come from was a mystery – her people were newcomers to their land – but since they arrived things had been changing. They seemed to bring change with them.

 

Of course, he isn’t wrong.

 

This was a fascinating and enjoyable read. I empathized with Ayla immediately. I’m confident that was Auel’s intent, Ayla being the more “modern” human. Just as Creb sensed change, the reader senses the process of natural selection at work on the cusp of a change in human history.

 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

This novel satisfies the “NFL Team” category (title must contain the name of an NFL team) in the What’s in a Name 2024 challenge.

 

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The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

The Winter’s Tale is a comedy by William Shakespeare, written in the early seventeenth century.

Or is it a tragedy?

 

It could be either. It is one of my least favorites, primarily due to this ambiguity.

 

Leontes, King of Sicilia, is hosting his childhood friend Polixenes, now the King of Bohemia, for some nine months. When Polixenes declares he must return to his realm, Leontes tries to dissuade him but fails. He sends his queen, Hermione, who persuades Polixenes to extend his visit. The queen’s success evokes suspicion in Leontes, which in turn produces tragic consequences. But by the fourth act, in true Bardic fashion, a series of comic capers set all things right.

 

Excepting the dead prince.

 

Meh, For me, it mostly didn’t work.

 

I probably missed them, but I didn’t notice any of Shakespeare’s aphorisms that have become part of our current vernacular. Though there is one delightful stage direction…

 

Exit, pursued by a bear

 

That didn’t turn out well.

 

The title doesn’t say much either. It is taken from one character stating…

 

A sad tale’s best for winter: I have one of sprites and goblins.

 

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Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino

One of the blessings of being a reader is that people give you books as gifts. Or is that a curse? My “to be read” list is literally over 2,000 titles, and the gifts are often not something I would pick up on my own.

 

Cinema Speculation is such a book: a gift from a friend and not in my normal wheelhouse. But it is a blessing because it is sometimes good to get out of one’s comfort zone.

 

Cinema Speculation is Quentin Tarantino’s examination of a select group of movies from the 1970s. At first, I thought they were his favorite films from the era and his adolescence, but while some are probably among his favorites, others are not. I think they represent films that were formative for the future Oscar winner and that represent, in his speculation, a new era in Hollywood filmmaking.

 

Some are Oscar winners (Bullitt, Deliverance, Taxi Driver), others obscure (The Outfit). Some are iconic (Dirty Harry), others all but forgotten (Sisters, Hardcore). Some I’ve seen, others I’ve not, but with one exception, I now want to.

 

I’m not a film buff (reader after all), and I feared this book would be quite esoteric. But it’s pretty accessible. Tarantino does drop a lot of names I’m unfamiliar with, and he refers to many other films for comparison, often films I’m not familiar with. Still, it was a pretty easy read. He does a good job of speculating what made a film work or fail – almost always a combination of screenwriting, casting, acting, and directing. Things that, for me, a casual filmgoer, are largely transparent and not something I give a lot of thought to.

 

For example, after discussing Martin Scorsese’s gritty masterpiece Taxi Driver, Tarantino speculates on what the film would have been had Brian De Palma directed it. In Scorsese’s version, the cabbie is perceived as a bit of a nut but also a sympathetic hero. Tarantino speculates that in De Palma’s version, he would have been more of a deranged killer.

 

Tarantino brings out many points I’ve never considered, like Taxi Driver was a thematic remake of John Ford’s The Searchers. I see it now.

 

Well, there’s much more: lots of anecdotes about changes in actors, screenwriters, and directors and how they changed a film. Or how a movie almost wasn’t made and how and by whom it was rescued. Again, this is mostly stuff I’d never thought of before, and much of it insider stuff I couldn’t know unless someone like Tarantino writes about it.

 

A very thought-provoking read. Warning: this shouldn’t shock anyone, but Tarantino drops the F-bomb…A LOT.

 

And as the friend who gifted this to me said in his inscription, it…”will also make you want to rewatch these 70s classics.”

 

Indeed!

 

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