# Has Jean Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear) lost it as an author? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102 "2012-01-29T19:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dynastia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f1d935/32.png) [@Dynastia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dynastia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/101 "2013-06-21T14:21:52Z")
Yeah, but the New Testament was still a better read because the main character wasn’t as idealised and overpowered as Ayla. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/102 "2013-06-21T14:22:39Z")
> [@Dynastia](#): > > I’m just thinking a thought to myself that I have often thought after arriving at the Straight Dope forums after I was posting in different forums that I posted in before the Straight Dope forum that **Ostro Ostrogoth** has made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with his warm welcome, which he welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, I feel I should write a message saying so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my enormously oversized throbbing mammoth organ to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out a message saying that I think that the people here have made me feel quite warmly welcomed with their warm welcomes, a thought that I have often had after arriving at the Straight Dope forums. > > **Ostro Ostrogoth** , you have made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with your warm welcome, which you welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, and so I am now telling you so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my glistening male rod of gargantuan size to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out this message, which is a message I have often thought about giving you since arriving here at the Straight Dope forums after posting on other forums before finding the Straight Dope forum. > > Now I’m thinking another thought to myself that I have often thought after arriving at the Straight Dope forums after I was posting in different forums that I posted in before the Straight Dope forum that **lisiate** has made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with his warm welcome, which he welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, I feel I should write a message saying so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my enormously oversized throbbing mammoth organ to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out a message saying that I think that the people here have made me feel quite warmly welcomed with their warm welcomes, a thought that I have often had after arriving at the Straight Dope forums. > > **lisiate** , you have made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with your warm welcome, which you welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, and so I am now telling you so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my glistening male rod of gargantuan size to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out this message, which is a message I have often thought about giving you since arriving here at the Straight Dope forums after posting on other forums before finding the Straight Dope forum. > > Now I’m thinking another thought to myself that I have often thought after arriving at the Straight Dope forums after I was posting in different forums that I posted in before the Straight Dope forum that **jabiru** has made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with his warm welcome, which he welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, I feel I should write a message saying so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my enormously oversized throbbing mammoth organ to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out a message saying that I think that the people here have made me feel quite warmly welcomed with their warm welcomes, a thought that I have often had after arriving at the Straight Dope forums. > > **jabiru** , you have made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with your warm welcome, which you welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, and so I am now telling you so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my glistening male rod of gargantuan size to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out this message, which is a message I have often thought about giving you since arriving here at the Straight Dope forums after posting on other forums before finding the Straight Dope forum. > > Now I’m thinking another thought to myself that I have often thought after arriving at the Straight Dope forums after I was posting in different forums that I posted in before the Straight Dope forum that **Siam Siam** has made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with his warm welcome, which he welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, I feel I should write a message saying so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my enormously oversized throbbing mammoth organ to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out a message saying that I think that the people here have made me feel quite warmly welcomed with their warm welcomes, a thought that I have often had after arriving at the Straight Dope forums. > > **Siam Siam** , you have made me feel quite warmly welcomed here with your warm welcome, which you welcomed me with and made me feel warmly welcomed, and so I am now telling you so by using my keyboard, which is a device of my own invention made from acrylo-nitrile-butadiene-styrene used for registering a sequence of letters by carefully reaching my hands past my glistening male rod of gargantuan size to press keys in the desired sequence to spell out this message, which is a message I have often thought about giving you since arriving here at the Straight Dope forums after posting on other forums before finding the Straight Dope forum. > > Would anyone like to join me in another rendition of the Mother’s Song? Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!/Thank you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/103 "2013-06-21T15:21:16Z")
> [@Dynastia](#): > > I’m just thinking a thought to myself that I have often thought after arriving at the Straight Dope forums after I was posting in different forums that I posted in before the Straight Dope forum that **Ostro Ostrogoth** has made me feel quite warmly welcomed here… Bravo! You are clearly much more blue of eye, long of leg, blonde of hair, and hanged of dong than me. Have you checked out her other series that she wrote under the pseudonym “Dan Brown”? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/104 "2013-06-21T16:11:33Z")
> [@Dynastia](#): > > Yeah, but the New Testament was still a better read because the main character wasn’t as idealised and overpowered as Ayla. /slowclap ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/105 "2013-06-21T18:37:14Z")
Looking at the writing style in her books, I cna’t help but wonder if her contract included a page minimum. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/106 "2013-06-21T19:09:09Z")
**Dynastia** , your posts are more entertaining than the books this thread is about. Thank you, welcome to the SD, but please, no need to tell me about how welcome you feel. 🙂 I definitely look forward to reading more posts from you. Kath ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/107 "2013-06-21T20:23:27Z")
The series makes a lot more sense once you find out the Auel is really a psychologist, and the books were designed as a test to detect and measure a theorized personality trait in people that will keep them sinking hours and hours into an entertainment product based on an initially promising premise, even after its become beyond clear that it’s become iredemely terrible, and will certainly remain so for the thousands remaining pages. My current PhD work is studying a correlation between people that made it as far as Shelter’s of Stone and people who bothered to watch the third Star Wars prequel. So how is the sixth season of True Blood? ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/108 "2013-06-22T01:39:46Z")
**Dynastia** : look for threads titled “the best threads on the dope”, “the funniest threads on the dope”, etc.\* but especially “if a christmas carol had been written by someone else”. I would help out, but the search function is not working for me right now. \*be prepared to lose the next several hours of your life. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/109 "2013-06-22T02:50:42Z")
Years ago I read several of the books because at that time there was nothing like it. But it got a bit Flintstone ish, with the heroine bathing daily, brushing her teeth and on the contraceptive Pill (Or its herbal equivalent). Then it began to be about her emotions, and being a woman and so on, but not a lot really happening eventwise, with chunks of writing repeated at great length, I suppose to bulk up the word count, so I left it after she got to , I think Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Kerrens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a87d85/32.png) [@Kerrens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kerrens)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/110 "2014-04-01T04:07:28Z")
Couldn’t agree more, poor writing was a distraction. Waited in great anticipation for this book, what a disappointment. Like most books, her previous 5 were not perfect, but none the less I loved them. Sparked an interest in the actual factual history which I still enjoy. I felt the actual writing was a bit sub par, but my greatest ‘gripe’ was that she betrayed her characters. I thnk one of the hardest things to do over a series is to maintain the nature of your characters. We must be able to believe what they say, do & think. I felt Jondalar’s betrayal of Ayla was completely out of character, particularly with the person in question. The whole book felt contrived and not heartfelt ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/111 "2014-04-01T15:36:52Z")
I just looked. Poster **Dynastia** , who was so witty, only posted 14 times, in the period of about 24 hours. What a shame. StG ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/112 "2014-04-01T16:16:28Z")
Contemporary fiction is hardly something that I would bother with. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/113 "2014-04-01T20:57:38Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > … Too many comma splices in the fifth book, it was annoying, there was a comma splice on nearly every page. 😉 Just wanted to say, this sentence was so well-done - it nearly hooked me in 11 months later. Kudos, **EmilyG**. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/114 "2014-04-01T21:09:21Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Just wanted to say, this sentence was so well-done - it nearly hooked me in 11 months later. Kudos, **EmilyG**. Why do people read rubbish? ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/115 "2014-04-01T21:35:22Z")
> [@Dynastia](#): > > not to worry ; they’ve still got everything short of flux capacitors to explain to the entire population of Paleolithic Eurasia. One person at a time. Bwahahahaha!!! I liked the first book, but by the end of the second I gave up. It was worth it, though, just so I could read those two sentences. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/116 "2014-04-02T00:14:29Z")
I never thought I would be BORED reading sex until I read Mammoth Hunters 😃 I gave up on whatever came after that due to the endless descriptions of the Paleo environment. I’m pleased you did your research ma’am but you didn’t have to include EVERY word of it. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/117 "2014-04-02T00:27:55Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I never thought I would be BORED reading sex until I read Mammoth Hunters 😃 > > I gave up on whatever came after that due to the endless descriptions of the Paleo environment. I’m pleased you did your research ma’am but you didn’t have to include EVERY word of it. I honestly do not believe women can write good fiction. I have tried many times but so far none has appealed to me. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/118 "2014-04-02T00:39:30Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > I honestly do not believe women can write good fiction. I have tried many times but so far none has appealed to me. Umm, not much I can say to that except thanks for letting me know my vagina is connected to my brain and both can’t work at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/119 "2014-04-02T00:44:05Z")
**Melchior** , you’re threadshitting and being a jerk. Stop it immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102/120 "2014-04-02T00:55:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **Melchior** , you’re threadshitting and being a jerk. Stop it immediately. This was my honest opinion based on my personal experience, expressed politely. I won’t make the mistake of posting anything in this forum again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-jean-auel-clan-of-the-cave-bear-lost-it-as-an-author/611102.md?page=7)