The agenda for tonight's Reader Advisory class includes a visit from a former student, an honest conversation about the ins and outs of book pimping, and a look at Historical Fiction. Say it with me: Wooooooo!
For class I read Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear, which was a huge cheat for me given that I have read the book before. I do want to point out that it has been almost fifteen years since I first read The Clan of the Cave Bear, so in many ways it was almost like a brand new read for me. Set in a time when humans and Neanderthals both walked the Earth, the first book in the acclaimed The Earth's Children series introduces us to Ayla, a human child who is left all alone when her parents are killed by an earthquake. Near death after being attacked by a cave lion, fate smiles upon Ayla when she is found by the Clan. While their leader does not want to help someone who is not Clan, Ayla is taken in and nursed back to health by Iza, a medicine woman for the Clan who eventually raises Ayla as her daughter. Although she is raised in the ways of the Clan, Ayla is still an outsider -- an Other. As she grows and matures Ayla finds herself caught in the middle of a power struggle that will impact her fate as well as the fate of the Clan. The Clan of the Cave Bear is a powerful read. The author's vast research places the reader in a world that is rich in detail. This book is highly recommended to all fans of historical fiction, particularly those who wonder what life was like for early man.
Needless to say I was not disappointed in my decision to read The Clan of the Cave Bear again. I haven't read the most recent book in the series (The Shelters of Stone) yet, and I have a feeling that I will be reading the rest of the books again before I get to it. I found that I had forgotten quite a bit of the world that Auel created, so I would probably enjoy rediscovering it.
In regards to tonight's class, one of the questions that is rolling around in my head is sure to lead the discussion to an ugly place, but I can't help but ask it. Do you think readers view Historical Fiction as one block in the genre ghetto, or do they view it as being more "literary" than other genres? If the answer is more literary, where does that leave Historical Mysteries or Historical Romances?
posted by Kelly @ 8:04 AM
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