The Plains of Passage

Jean Auel got back on track with book #4.   The entire book covers the traveling done by Ayla, Jondala, the two horses, and Wolf.

I was looking for a review that would say some of the things that I think to little avail.  However, on Wikipedia, I found the following that makes me very excited to continue the series!

The Plains of Passage describes the journey of Ayla and Jondalar west along the Great Mother River (the Danube), from the home of The Mammoth Hunters (roughly modern Ukraine) to Jondalar's homeland (close to Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France). During this journey, Ayla meets the various peoples who live along their line of march. These meetings, the attitudes and beliefs of these groups, and Ayla's response form an essential part of the story.

Never did I expect Jondalar's people to be my ancestors!  I am very excited to find that the couple and their horses and Wolf would end up in the very area of Europe where my Grandmother's people were MANY centuries ago!  I guess I may as well use my new credit on Audible to purchase the next book in the series!

At the end of the book, the information is confirmed that the Great Mother River that the couple followed is indeed the Danube.  Below is a map of the Danube:



And then below a map that shows the area of France in which we find  Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France:


http://leseyzies-tourist.info/category/dordogne-caves-and-shelters



I found my photo book about the trip that Jack and I made with Steve and Doris in 1994.  We absolutely stayed in the small village of Les Eyries.  I will add information about that when I have time.

I wrote a blog post about my mtDNA that is found at the bottom of a post on my Hornberger line.  According to the book written by Brian Sykes the nickname that he gave to the Daughter of Eve who heads up the H Haplogroup (which is my group) is Helena.  If you go to the below link and scroll to the bottom you can see where Helena's group was found in the ice ages:

http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2013/05/trip-to-blue-ash-ohio-in-april-2013.html

Ans here is a link to a post made by Rick Steves about the are around Les Eyries

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0705/rick_steves_dordogne_france.shtml

The Mammoth Hunters

This was my least favorite book of the series.  However, I did finish it.  It was interesting in that Ayla was adopted into the Lion Camp.  And the part in which Ayla interacts with the Old Mamut.  However the sex scenes and the misunderstandings between Ayla and Jondalar made one want to fast forward.  Perhaps a good editor could have cut them down to a more manageable amount.  Here are a couple of other people's thoughts about the book that I copied and pasted from other reviews:


" On the way, three days away from the valley, they met up with other people called the Mamutoi of the Great Lion Camp who accepted friendly visitors with open arms but they were apprehensive about the two horses, Winney and Racer."

"I did enjoy the characters of the Lion Camp. They were a group of people who received and adopted people who were different. In their camp they accepted a dark skin man, a mix-breed baby, a family that no other Camps would take in, and a spiritual leader who lived among the Clan people for a while recovering from a broken arm...."

 I read this book via audible.....perhaps this is one instance in which audible should have offered an abridged version.

The Valley of Horses

I started the sequel to The Clan of the Cave Bear as soon as I finished the first book.  Jean Auel is very imaginative and I am enjoying continuing to read the saga of Ayla as she leaves the Clan and moves out into the world on her own.   I am reading this book via audible.

Here is the summary on Wikipedia:

The book starts off from the events at the end of The Clan of the Cave Bear detailing the life of a young Cro-Magnon woman named Ayla who has just been exiled from the Clan, the band of Neanderthals who had raised her from early childhood. Ayla now searches for her own people, whom the Clan refer to as "the Others".

In a parallel narrative, Jondalar, a young Cro-Magnon man of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, accompanies his impetuous younger half-brother Thonolan on a traditional rite of passage called the Great Journey. In these episodes, we learn of the Cro-Magnon's paleolithic nature religion, centered on the worship of the Great Mother of All, and follow their adventures and sexual exploits. It is also through these episodes that the animosity, verging on hatred, between the Others and the Clan (whom they refer to derogatorily as "flatheads") is introduced. The Others have repeatedly persecuted the Clan, taking land and resources, but justify it by classing them as animals. However, over the course of his adventures, Jondalar starts to question this prejudice, noting that no other animals have fire, tools or communicate intelligently, nor are they actively hated or attacked-as-sport by his people.

Ayla, alone and ritually ostracized from the only people she has ever known, travels steadily from the Beran Sea peninsular home of her former tribe north for around half a year until finding the book's titular valley sunk deep into the windy landscape of the periglacial loess steppes in Ukraine. Worried that she might never find the Others, she begins to prepare for winter. Finding a suitable cave and many conveniences in the valley, she establishes a comfortable but lonely life there.

Her desire for companionship leads her to tame a filly whose mother she had killed, naming her Whinney. She also takes in and treats an injured cave lion cub, which she names Baby.

In the course of their journey, Jondalar and Thonolan have met women and hope to settle with them, but Thonolan's mate dies in childbirth and Jondalar feels he is not really in love with his woman friend. They continue on their journey and meet up with the Mamutoi people, planning to join them later in the year.

Jondalar and Ayla meet when Thonolan is killed by a cave lion—Baby, now fully grown and with a mate of his own. Ayla heals Jondalar's injuries and they begin to learn to communicate and get to know each other. Jondalar overcomes his inbred prejudice against the Clan and Ayla learns that all her peculiarities which confused and angered the Clan are actually fully accepted and encouraged by the Others.

The two fall in love as the book nears its end, and decide to leave the Valley of Horses and explore regions around the valley Ayla has not yet investigated.

The Clan of the Cave Bear

I finished the Introvert Advantage last night and decided to start this book this morning.  The book is of particular interest to me as my mtDNA indicates that I connect to a woman who lived during the last ice age in middle France among the people who painted on the cave walls.  My mtDNA is the most common among human beings of European/British descent.  (For those who are not DNA enthusisasts, the mtDNA is passed from a mother to ALL of her children regardless of sex.  The children of your brother will NOT have mtDNA that matches your mother's as they will receive the same as their own mother. )  It makes a lot of sense that this would be my mtDNA as my mother's mother's people are from Alsace Lorraine.

Much to my disappointment the men in the book do NOT draw on the walls.  And I am not certain exactly where the Clan lives.  Although the Wikipedia summary says that Ayla travels from the Beran Sea Peninsula.  Here is a link to a map that a man has made showing the area in which the Clan lived:

http://donsmaps.com/earth4.html

I am reading the book via audible.com.

Here is the Publisher's summary:

A remarkable epic of one woman's odyssey - filled with mystery and magic.

Here is the saga of a people who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear; how they lived; the animals they hunted; the great totems they revered. But mostly it is the story of Ayla, the girl they found and raised, who was not like them.

To the Clan, her fair looks make her different - ugly. And she has odd ways: she laughs, she cries, she has the ability to speak. But even more, she struggles to be true to herself and, with her advanced intelligence, is curious about the world around her.

Although Ayla is clearly a member of the Others, she is nurtured by her adoptive parents, befriended by members of the Clan, and gradually accepted into the family circle. But there are those who would cast her out for her strange, threatening ways.

So the conflict between the ancient Clan, bound by heredity to its traditions, and the girl in its midst, of a newer breed destined to alter the face of earth, could never be resolved. And it is this same struggle that leads Ayla to venture where no Clan woman has ever dared. Driven by destiny and a will to survive, Ayla breaks the forbidden taboo. 

March

I started this book tonight again.  I had read the first page or two a week or so ago....and thought that perhaps I wouldn't read it.  But I read more pages tonight while I ate my dinner and I am HOOKED!  Oh, my gosh.

Ok....back to the beginning.  I have wanted to attend the book group that meets at the Gallaher library with my buddy, Mitzi.  I never seem to be able to go when she is attending.  Or I haven't read the book.  Or I forget.  But this is the book for this month and Geraldine Brooks is one of my favorite authors.  I really want to go this month.  I already own the book.  It is just a matter of reading it in a timely manner.

So I pulled it out tonight.  I am only on page 40.  But I can almost not breathe at the end of the last chapter when they whip the black woman named Grace for having encouraged the cook's daughter, Prudence to learn to read.  Mr. March had instructed her at night with Grace's encouragement  And the man who has appeared to have been such a gentleman requires Mr. March to watch.  It is too terrible.  And then the women gather at the end of the beating that is too hard to bear to take care of the the whipped woman.  How can people have lived like that and not have POISONED that man.....have not have stuck a knife in his heart?

Here is the review on the Goodreads site:

Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize For Fiction. From the author of the acclaimed YEAR OF WONDERS, an historical novel and love story set during a time of catastrophe, on the front lines of the American Civil War. Acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks gives us the story of the absent father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women - and conjures a world of brutality, stubborn courage and transcendent love. An idealistic abolitionist, March has gone as chaplain to serve the Union cause. But the war tests his faith not only in the Union - which is also capable of barbarism and racism - but in himself. As he recovers from a near-fatal illness, March must reassemble and reconnect with his family, who have no idea of what he has endured. A love story set in a time of catastrophe, March explores the passions between a man and a woman, the tenderness of parent and child, and the life-changing power of an ardently held belief.

Mr. March meets Grace again during the Civil War and the other information that she reveals to him also takes one breath.  

The Introvert Advantage

I just  started a book by Marti Olden Laney called the Introvert Advantage.  I am reading it via audible.  I chose the book after a conversation that Steve Sims and I had during our High School 50th reunion.  It is quite intriguing to read if one thinks that indeed "I am an introvert" by nature.

Here is the description on Amazon:

At least one out of four people prefers to avoid the limelight, tends to listen more than they speak, feels alone in large groups, and requires lots of private time to restore their energy. They're introverts, and here is the book to help them boost their confidence while learning strategies for successfully living in an extrovert world.

After dispelling common myths about introverts-they're not necessarily shy, aloof, or antisocial--The Introvert Advantage explains the real issues. Introverts are hardwired from birth to focus inward, so outside stimulation-chitchat, phone calls, parties, office meetings-can easily become "too much."

The Introvert Advantage dispels introverts' belief that something is wrong with them and instead helps them recognize their inner strengths-their analytical skills, ability to think outside the box, and strong powers of concentration. It helps readers understand introversion and shows them how to determine where they fall on the introvert/extrovert continuum. It provides tools to improve relationships with partners, kids, colleagues, and friends, offering dozens of tips, including 10 ways to talk less and communicate more, 8 ways to showcase your abilities at work, how to take a child's temperament temperature, and strategies for socializing. Finally, it shows how to not just survive, but thrive-how to take advantage of the introvert's special qualities to create a life that's just right for the introvert temperament, to discover new ways to expand their energy reserves, and even how, when necessary, to confidently become a temporary extrovert.

The thoughts that I had in the introductory information were two fold.  First the fact that our 50th High School reunion was wonderful fun for me when I was working on it.  However, the actual event that is a huge room filled with people is overwhelming and not as much fun.  And secondly is the fact that I often lament the fact that I do not initiate "things"....I am more likely to let life happen to me.  This seems to be the difference according to the author between the extrovert "warriors" who make things happen and the introverts who are less likely to lead the charge.  These are my words....my interpretation of what the author says.

Tonight Greg and Mom and I went to dinner.  We talked a bit about the book.  Then I listened to part of it on the way home.  The thought that I take away with me tonight is again two-fold:

1st.  Dr. Laney explained that introverts often have trouble coming up with the word that they want.  Something that happens to me all of the time.  I can add the word someone else is hunting in an instant, but often I grope for the word that I want in whatever I am telling.  Interesting that it is a trait of the introvert.
2nd.  And this one is exceptionally odd.  Introverts often have trouble remembering what they like to do and what they are good at doing.  I make lists of things that I want to do at night when I am relaxed and "not working"....then I lose the lists....When I get a few spare minutes, sometimes I have trouble remembering what I might want to do.  Tonight I did what the author suggested.  I sat quietly and relaxed and just thought.....and it came to me....I want to update my blog.

I am within the last half hour of the book.  Because I am listening to it rather than reading it, I don't often make notes nor bookmark parts that I want to note.  But one thing that was interesting this morning is that introverts tend to have an inner voice that goes over and over in a critical way things that they have said.  Oh, boy, do I ever have that!  It never occurred to me that others don't have that.  She says that indeed extroverts have a similar voice but is is more likely tied to things that they DO rather than things that they said.  She encouraged introverts to calm their inner voice with words such as "it is Ok....no one minded those words".....(my example rather than hers).

In 2018 I am adding a piece of information from Web MD:

The Secret Chord

I met Geraldine Brooks several years ago at the Key West Literary seminar.  It was the year that they were featuring Historical fiction.  I LOVED everything about the seminar that year.  For that event, I read her book:  Year Of Wonders.  Since then I have read everything that she has written that I know about.

This book reminded me of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent in that it takes a small part of the Bible and with imagination and research turns the segment into a full length, fascinating account.  I loved the Red Tent and I loved The Secret Chord.

After I recommended this book to a knitting buddy, I told her the next week that the book is very violent.  And I would caution my readers to be aware of the violence.  This is definitely a book for adults rather than children.  One does not have to believe every interpretation that Geraldine Brooks makes about the life of David, but the ideas are fascinating to consider.


Here are a few highlights from reviews found on Amazon:

"The Secret Chord," by Geraldine Brooks, is a novelization of King David's life, narrated by Nathan, who counseled the sovereign for many years. As the scorned youngest son of Yishai, David spends most of his days tending his father's sheep in the wilderness. Samuel proclaims that David, whom his older brothers ostracized, is destined to become the future king of Israel. The young man's victory over Goliath brings him great acclaim, and initially, King Saul takes the boy under his wing. David not only distinguishes himself on the battlefield, but also composes beautiful music, plays the harp, and sings with divine inspiration. Unfortunately, Saul becomes jealous of David and turns against him in a murderous rage.

 It is in his middle age that David falls in love with Batsheva and it is with her that he conceives a child Solomon (referred to as Shlomo in this book). Solomon is raised differently from the rest of his brothers ad he receives some of the finest education a boy of his time can get. It is with cunning of prophet Nathan and David's wife Batsheva, that Solomon assumes power and becomes King of Israel. It is during his reign that Israel prospered and some of the most beautiful verses of Old Testament are created.

 King David is believed to have composed a large part of the Book of Psalms in the Bible, .....

I read this book via audible.com.  I recommend it.