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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I liked this book. I was having trouble deciding between rating it a 3 or 4 star, but in the end her creativity with building the story tipped me to a 4. It was an fun read.
This book was not the let-me-paint-you-a-completely-new-Neanderthal-picture story I expected it to be. There are two storylines: one about a young, pregnant archaeologist in modern times and one of a small family of Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago. This novel claims it will change the way we think about Neanderthals (grunting, club-carrying dumbos, that is). But, on the whole, the Neanderthals reminded me strongly of the ones in Clan of the Cave Bear, a book that's over 30 years old. They are still portrayed as simple and limited, although to be fair, there is a sense of culture, and Camerons Neanderthal characters have a bit more depth than Auels.
The archaeologist was incredibly whiney, and I was constantly annoyed with her, also on the science part. The archaeological discovery that she is obsessing about - a modern human and a Neanderthal being buried next to each other (in the same geological layer that is) - doesn't necessarily mean what is suggested in the novel. They could have been buried ten years apart or more. There's no way to know (with current techniques) if they were even alive at the same time, let alone had a relationship (clan-wise or other). This annoyed me, because the novel is claiming to have a strong, up-to-date scientific base. But, besides all that, I guess it was okay (I finished it), especially if you don't know anything about archaeology or Neanderthals yet. I suppose in that case it might be a refreshing and entertaining read.
The archaeologist was incredibly whiney, and I was constantly annoyed with her, also on the science part. The archaeological discovery that she is obsessing about - a modern human and a Neanderthal being buried next to each other (in the same geological layer that is) - doesn't necessarily mean what is suggested in the novel. They could have been buried ten years apart or more. There's no way to know (with current techniques) if they were even alive at the same time, let alone had a relationship (clan-wise or other). This annoyed me, because the novel is claiming to have a strong, up-to-date scientific base. But, besides all that, I guess it was okay (I finished it), especially if you don't know anything about archaeology or Neanderthals yet. I suppose in that case it might be a refreshing and entertaining read.
About 20km from my house is the Cradle of Humankind, the place where some of the oldest human remains reside. With a recent new discovery of a well-preserved skull of the Homo Naledi species the interest in this subject matter was all over the media.
So when I saw this book it seemed like the perfect time to delve into pre-historic fiction. The story of Girl and her family trying to survive 40,000 years ago was an interesting one. The author clearly tried her best to make the imagined life of the Neanderthals as realistic as she could.
Parallel to Neanderthal storyline is that of Dr Rosamund Gale who in modern times discovers new bones in France, bones that may prove her controversial theory that humans and Neanderthals coexisted. But as Rosamund is pregnant this discovery is a race against time as to excavate the artefacts before her baby comes.
The author draws clear parallels between Rosamund and Girl showing how both women need to deal with similar life events but with vastly different resources. Showing the contrast between Girl’s instinctive connection to her own body and environment and Rosamund’s discord with her own. Unfortunately, I found Rose’s character so unlikable that she spoiled the story for me.
I would rather recommend [b:The Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1)|Jean M. Auel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385331302s/1295.jpg|1584694] for anyone interested in exploring pre-historic fiction.
So when I saw this book it seemed like the perfect time to delve into pre-historic fiction. The story of Girl and her family trying to survive 40,000 years ago was an interesting one. The author clearly tried her best to make the imagined life of the Neanderthals as realistic as she could.
Parallel to Neanderthal storyline is that of Dr Rosamund Gale who in modern times discovers new bones in France, bones that may prove her controversial theory that humans and Neanderthals coexisted. But as Rosamund is pregnant this discovery is a race against time as to excavate the artefacts before her baby comes.
The author draws clear parallels between Rosamund and Girl showing how both women need to deal with similar life events but with vastly different resources. Showing the contrast between Girl’s instinctive connection to her own body and environment and Rosamund’s discord with her own. Unfortunately, I found Rose’s character so unlikable that she spoiled the story for me.
I would rather recommend [b:The Clan of the Cave Bear|1295|The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1)|Jean M. Auel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385331302s/1295.jpg|1584694] for anyone interested in exploring pre-historic fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown and Company for the preview copy of this book.
This was a very different story than I had anticipated. I had thoughts of an archeological dig, with all the movie melodrama that entails. Instead, this was a very curiously moving story of the present day archaeologist juxtaposed with the Neanderthal Girl. The similarities were striking. What does family mean? What is the role of the provider? How can history inform us of these facts or in some cases misinform?
The intertwining stories were intriguing on their own merit, but I really enjoyed looking into the mirror and seeing the past/present woman.
This was a very different story than I had anticipated. I had thoughts of an archeological dig, with all the movie melodrama that entails. Instead, this was a very curiously moving story of the present day archaeologist juxtaposed with the Neanderthal Girl. The similarities were striking. What does family mean? What is the role of the provider? How can history inform us of these facts or in some cases misinform?
The intertwining stories were intriguing on their own merit, but I really enjoyed looking into the mirror and seeing the past/present woman.
I’m a bit torn on what I think of this book so I’m going to list what I liked and what I didn’t.
Likes:
The parallels between the modern story and the far past
The character of Girl and her place as a point of view character
The message about Neanderthals
The reality of trying to live an academic life and the trade offs between teaching, research, and personal life.
The end
Dislikes:
The portrayal of the two female scientists, especially Rose
The use of the word theory instead of hypothesis
Scientists driven to “prove” their “theory”
To some extent, the portrayal of science throughout
Likes:
The parallels between the modern story and the far past
The character of Girl and her place as a point of view character
The message about Neanderthals
The reality of trying to live an academic life and the trade offs between teaching, research, and personal life.
The end
Dislikes:
The portrayal of the two female scientists, especially Rose
The use of the word theory instead of hypothesis
Scientists driven to “prove” their “theory”
To some extent, the portrayal of science throughout
If I did not have a crippling fear of pregnancy before, I definitely have one now. The plot line was not what I was expecting. I enjoyed the parallels between Girl's and Rose's struggles. I thought Cameron did a great job of going back and forth between the two plot lines in different periods.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I understand what the message of this book is and I can't say I do not agree, cos I do. We are not alone, as humans, and we need, as we have always needed, human proximity, biological closeness, support, family and love. This surely was at the basis of our survival and evolution. So from this point of view, the book is fine, and it sincerely expresses this. However, the story behind this message is so weak. The Neanderthal's point of view is feminist fiction at best. I admit I do not have extensive knowledge of the primitive human socio-emotional condition. I have not researched this surely fascinating subject and I do not know any experts in this field. But from what I've read I can state that I personally do not believe that primitive societies had any comparable feministic views. Really, while I think they were far more liberal, I also think that they lacked many of the positive traits presented in the book. Take what I am saying with a grain of salt.
The reason why I simply cannot rate this higher is the fact that more often than not, it read like a mediocre blog entry. Or like fan fiction. The modern woman sections were really bad, boring, with stupid dialogue and forced relationships. The timeline was confusing and some really slow events took chapters while dramatic action happened instantly with few explained consequences. The "fight" scenes were also among the worst that I have ever read.
In the end, I think it got a bit better with the drama of the infant's death and the almost psycho manifestation of an otherwise bland and empty character but when the book ended, it simply ended. All the effort was in vain mostly. No finalization, no explanation, no fucking closure, just a lot left to imagination, which does not work in a book where every minor action is described in minute detail. I know in obsessive detail how the primitives made a cave shelter but I have no idea what happened after the discovery of the archaeological site. And that's just lazy.
So, overall, it is not a book to abandon on holiday, but it is a book to read mostly on planes with loud music in the headphones. It is a solid meh.
The reason why I simply cannot rate this higher is the fact that more often than not, it read like a mediocre blog entry. Or like fan fiction. The modern woman sections were really bad, boring, with stupid dialogue and forced relationships. The timeline was confusing and some really slow events took chapters while dramatic action happened instantly with few explained consequences. The "fight" scenes were also among the worst that I have ever read.
In the end, I think it got a bit better with the drama of the infant's death and the almost psycho manifestation of an otherwise bland and empty character but when the book ended, it simply ended. All the effort was in vain mostly. No finalization, no explanation, no fucking closure, just a lot left to imagination, which does not work in a book where every minor action is described in minute detail. I know in obsessive detail how the primitives made a cave shelter but I have no idea what happened after the discovery of the archaeological site. And that's just lazy.
So, overall, it is not a book to abandon on holiday, but it is a book to read mostly on planes with loud music in the headphones. It is a solid meh.
This book just didn’t resonate with me.
There are two parallel stories. Girl is a Neanderthal, presumably the last one. Her story focuses on her struggles to survive, especially as the members of her family become fewer and fewer. Rose is an archaeologist who discovers Girl’s skeleton, along with that of a male homo sapien. Rose’s goal is to prove that Neanderthals were not inferior in terms of intelligence and physical abilities and that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens mated since modern humans have Neanderthal DNA.
There are similarities between Girl and Rose. Girl must contend with the power dynamics within her family; Rose must manoeuvre the power dynamics at the archaeological dig and the museum that is providing her funding. The most obvious commonality is that both women are pregnant. Obviously, this book is intended as a tale of common humanity, but the similarities seem awkwardly inserted into the narrative.
Girl’s section has passages which I found difficult to accept. For example, we are told that “When one [member of the family] had a dream, the others saw the same pictures in their heads, whether they remembered in the morning or not” (10). Also, Girl’s “mind held the memories of all the hunts [her mother] had been on too, and her mother before as well. And Girl also had the stories that came to her in dreams from the other members of the family” (40). The Neanderthals are shown to communicate with animals; they have a “truce with the bears” (179) at the annual spring fish run, a “long-standing peace” (175). Girl is so in tune with nature that she can read messages in leaves: “Meat that is alive sends pulses of heat into the air. This comes from the fire inside the chest of a body. When this warmth hits the air, it moves in patterns around the trees. It pushes and pulls at the leaves in particular ways. . . . The trees that line the valley take up and exaggerate the movement. They pass the message down. If Girl watched and felt the patterns in the leaves, she could read them” (119). The impression is that the author tried too hard to portray Neanderthals as deserving of our respect.
Rose’s narrative has problems too, the most significant being that Rose is unlikeable. She is obsessed with work and when she discovers she is pregnant, her main concern is not for her child but for her inability to oversee the dig. Her focus is on how the pregnancy will affect her career; she expresses no love for the child she is carrying and gives no thought to his/her welfare, not even insuring that he/she will have access to adequate health care. Often, women must sacrifice their careers to have children but it is difficult to have any sympathy for a woman who is so self-centred. The reader is to believe Rose is intelligent, but her naivety suggests otherwise. What woman would promise her partner that she would deliver the baby on a particular weekend (225)? Is Rose’s ineptitude supposed to emphasize Girl’s intuitive understanding of pregnancy and motherhood?
This novel was a finalist for the 2017 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, but I can’t understand why. The jury described the book as “engrossing” but I didn’t find it compelling. The novel was also commended for its “great sophistication” but I found it clunky; the author’s attempts to shake up “the classic Neanderthal tropes in science fiction and fantasy” are stiff and mechanical.
The author had a purpose (which she outlines in the prologue): to emphasize similarities between modern humans and Neanderthals. Unfortunately, her theme is not conveyed with the finesse of great fiction.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
There are two parallel stories. Girl is a Neanderthal, presumably the last one. Her story focuses on her struggles to survive, especially as the members of her family become fewer and fewer. Rose is an archaeologist who discovers Girl’s skeleton, along with that of a male homo sapien. Rose’s goal is to prove that Neanderthals were not inferior in terms of intelligence and physical abilities and that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens mated since modern humans have Neanderthal DNA.
There are similarities between Girl and Rose. Girl must contend with the power dynamics within her family; Rose must manoeuvre the power dynamics at the archaeological dig and the museum that is providing her funding. The most obvious commonality is that both women are pregnant. Obviously, this book is intended as a tale of common humanity, but the similarities seem awkwardly inserted into the narrative.
Girl’s section has passages which I found difficult to accept. For example, we are told that “When one [member of the family] had a dream, the others saw the same pictures in their heads, whether they remembered in the morning or not” (10). Also, Girl’s “mind held the memories of all the hunts [her mother] had been on too, and her mother before as well. And Girl also had the stories that came to her in dreams from the other members of the family” (40). The Neanderthals are shown to communicate with animals; they have a “truce with the bears” (179) at the annual spring fish run, a “long-standing peace” (175). Girl is so in tune with nature that she can read messages in leaves: “Meat that is alive sends pulses of heat into the air. This comes from the fire inside the chest of a body. When this warmth hits the air, it moves in patterns around the trees. It pushes and pulls at the leaves in particular ways. . . . The trees that line the valley take up and exaggerate the movement. They pass the message down. If Girl watched and felt the patterns in the leaves, she could read them” (119). The impression is that the author tried too hard to portray Neanderthals as deserving of our respect.
Rose’s narrative has problems too, the most significant being that Rose is unlikeable. She is obsessed with work and when she discovers she is pregnant, her main concern is not for her child but for her inability to oversee the dig. Her focus is on how the pregnancy will affect her career; she expresses no love for the child she is carrying and gives no thought to his/her welfare, not even insuring that he/she will have access to adequate health care. Often, women must sacrifice their careers to have children but it is difficult to have any sympathy for a woman who is so self-centred. The reader is to believe Rose is intelligent, but her naivety suggests otherwise. What woman would promise her partner that she would deliver the baby on a particular weekend (225)? Is Rose’s ineptitude supposed to emphasize Girl’s intuitive understanding of pregnancy and motherhood?
This novel was a finalist for the 2017 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, but I can’t understand why. The jury described the book as “engrossing” but I didn’t find it compelling. The novel was also commended for its “great sophistication” but I found it clunky; the author’s attempts to shake up “the classic Neanderthal tropes in science fiction and fantasy” are stiff and mechanical.
The author had a purpose (which she outlines in the prologue): to emphasize similarities between modern humans and Neanderthals. Unfortunately, her theme is not conveyed with the finesse of great fiction.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).