hunters and gatherers) and mysteryn(there is still not complete agreementneven among experts about their evolutionarynfate, whether they became extinctnor were gradually transformed byngenetic changes into the modern formsnwho succeeded them). Although somenof the facts noted here are used in thensetting provided by Auel, they are rarelynused persuasively. The net result is verynmuch as if the Unicorn Tapestry in thenCloisters were used as a background forn”… .solid book.”n”Ihi^se art real people in every .sense ..nthe acrylic day-glo dabblings of a grafittinartist; while the overlay adds physically,nit detracts aesthetically.nThe feeling throughout the book isnreminiscent of a soap opera, the UppernPaleolithic version of Serial. The plotnoutline is universal and straightforward.nA young child, Ayla, orphaned by annatural disaster, is picked up by a bandnof strangers. Loved by some though rejectednby most because she is “different,”nshe grows up self-reliant and strongwilled.nIn late adolescence and earlynwomanhood conformity is forced on her,nparticularly by the reckless heir-apparent,nwho “works his will on her” chieflynto gratify his own ego by humiliatingnand dominating her. In response ournheroine becomes outwardly submissiven(also slightly pregnant), but channelsnher energy into the development of anskill which ultimately proves to be lifesaving.nHowever, instead of gratitudenfor her demonstration of selflessnessnshe garners hatred from her master andnis ultimately driven away from the community,nadopted family and even hernown child.nOf course, any plot outline can benmade to sound silly; try composing ornreading one of The Old Man and the Seanor even Hamlet. But the real test of anwriter is how the outline is elaboratednand brought alive; here it is readilynevident that Hemingway and Shakenspeare have no serious rival in Auel.nSome of my dissatisfaction on this scorenarises from language that is simply incongruous,nas in a description of Ay la’snimage of a snowfall.nAyla exclaimed with delight whennshe stepped out of her cave in thenmorning. A pristine whiteness softenednthe contours of the familiar landscapencreating a magical dreamlandn— Sew York limes Hook Reviewn— Seivsilaynof fantastic shapes and mythicalnplants. Bushes had top hats of softnsnow, conifers were dressed in newngowns of white finery, and bare exposednlimbs were clothed in shiningncoats that outlined each twig againstnthe deep blue sky.nNone of the garments mentioned in thensimile had yet been invented, or wouldnbe for about 30,000 years. Even LeonardonDa Vinci would envy such prescience.nThe substitution of current mentalnimages for the very different ones thatnmust have existed in the mind of thencharacter portrayed is bothersome, particularlynsince it is not just one minornerror. This problem permeates the book,nextending to far more substantive descriptionsnof behavior and cognition, asncan be seen in the following:nMog-ur had put a ban on men andnwomen sleeping together until a newncave was found so the men could concentratentheir energies on the ritualsn… It didn’t matter to Iza; her matenhad been one of those killed in thencave-in. She had mourned him withnproper grief at his burial . . . but shenwas not unhappy he was gone. It wasnno secret that he had been cruel andndemanding. There had never beennany warmth between them . . . Shenonly hoped she could still cook fornnnCreb [her brother]. He had sharednher fire from the beginning. Izansensed he hadn’t liked her mate anynmore than she had, though he neverninterfered with the internal problemsnof her relationship.nThis is Gothic soap: it is shoddy, notnmerely because it has the one-dimensionalitynof soap opera, but also becausenit negates the power of hterature andnhistory to take us beyond our own timenand place so that we can contemplatenthe varieties of human thought and behaviornin an attempt to distill what isnenduring and significant. In place ofnthis Auel’s work suggests that the onlynuniversals which transcend time are thentrivialities of daily existence.nThe Neanderthals portrayed by Auelnare at best noble savages and sometimesnnot very noble at that. They are destinednfor the human scrap heap. With themnwill go, conveniently, any links to anmore primitive past, any biologicalntraces of an ancient heritage that wouldnnot be forward-looking or malleable innthe hands of social planners to come.nIn their place we have the Ayla, “leann… slender, except for her milk-fillednbreasts, . . . her thick blonde hair . . .npicked up highlights . . . and gleamedngolden… taller, by far, than the tallestnman of the clan.” I recognize her. Shenis the first of the beautiful people, thenone whose loins will beget the jet set.n1 for one am sorry to see the Neanderthalsngo, though for substantivenreasons beyond a personal dislike fornAyla. The idea of Neanderthal extinctionnfurthered by Auel is an example ofnreal philosophical poverty; if Neanderthalsnhad not been discovered by scientistsndelving into our past, their likenwould have had to be invented in ordernto bridge the gap between ourselves andnthe yet-earlier and less modern populationsnnow so abundantly documented.nThe only clear alternative to this is anseparate creation set in 4004 B.C., withnsuch other components required by anliteral interpretation of the Bible as EvenwmmmmmmZlnMay/Jane 1981n