Itemize Books Toward Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1)
| Original Title: | Reindeer Moon |
| ISBN: | 0671741896 (ISBN13: 9780671741891) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Reindeer Moon #1 |
| Characters: | Janan, Meri, Timu |
| Literary Awards: | IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (1988) |
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Mass Market | Pages: 393 pages Rating: 3.95 | 1540 Users | 86 Reviews
Narration Supposing Books Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1)
3.5 – 4 starsFor a while now I’ve been wanting to read a book that takes place in human pre-history, an era that has become more and more fascinating to me of late, and yet I had a hard time finding something that fit the bill for me. The obvious choice, I suppose, would have been Jean Auel’s notorious bestseller The Clan of the Cave Bear, but I’ve read enough about the shall we say lack in historical and scientific accuracy of the book and the sheer Mary Sue-ishness of the main heroine to (rightly or wrongly) keep me away. Luckily I stumbled upon a reference to Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’ _Reindeer Moon_ and I have to say that I was hooked from the get-go! The book is part historical fiction and part fantasy, though both elements merge into a seamless whole, each adding something to the other.
The story centres on Yanan, a young woman coming of age amongst a Paleolithic tribe of hunter-gatherers living on the Siberian Steppes some 20,000 years ago. The story is actually an intertwined narrative told by Yanan from the afterlife wherein one segment of the tale occurs in the past as Yanan recalls the experiences of her life from her time as a 15 year-old girl becoming a woman until her death in the not too distant future (this death actually occurs in chapter 2 so I don’t think it’s an egregious spoiler to mention here), while the other occurs in her ‘present’ after her entry into the spirit world where she is trapped by her tribe’s shamans so she can aid them in their struggle for survival. This latter element is obviously what gives the book its fantasy elements, as Yanan’s spirit communes with others of her kind and also assumes the shapes of various animals at the behest of the shamans (the ones who “own the air”) as her former people set her the task of aiding them in their hunts and struggle for survival. Despite these fantastic elements I found the entire story to be believable not only in the way the harsh realities of the lives of Paleolithic peoples were presented in the ‘real’ world, but in the way in which the magical elements rang true to the beliefs and lifestyle of these people as envisioned by Thomas.
Yanan herself is a compelling character, headstrong and proud, whose words and actions often lead her into trouble. She is also resourceful and devoted to her family, especially her younger sister Meri, and the story of her struggles as she comes of age in a harsh world of survival where existence is often little more than hand-to-mouth kept me reading compulsively. We follow Yanan and her tribe as they follow their yearly migration from their winter lodge to the summergrounds of a tribe of Mammoth hunters to whom their leader Graylag and the other elders have joined them by marriage. Family connections, we find, are of central importance in this world as marriage alliances and one’s lineage define one’s identity and rights.
The lives of these early humans are obviously very different from our own as the basic search for food and shelter in a world that seems to be designed to thwart them at nearly every turn are the key concerns of Yanan and her people. It is not surprising, then, to find that they have an intimate connection with the natural world around them, especially with the animals that provide both sustenance and shelter, or that can conversely be their greatest competition and danger. We come to see very quickly the ways in which these early humans lived subject to the seasons and followed the life cycles of the animals on which they depended. As the herds migrated so did the people and they often had to uniquely fashion their lives to follow the example that these creatures set, as Yanan herself learned when she and her sister were separated from their tribe:
I saw we would be like small animals while we were traveling—like foxes, maybe. A big group of people can kill a big thing and live a long time eating it, like lions or wolves. But a very small group like me and Meri would have to live like foxes, eating the frogs and lemmings overlooked by the cranes.Humans are both predator and prey, not yet the masters of the earth, and very much subject to the vicissitudes of the natural world.
Survival and family are thus the two pillars upon which these people lived and the story shows us how conflicts from both within and without their family group could cause tensions that, when coupled with the hard fight for survival, made life a constant struggle with death always looming on the horizon. Death was not the end, in this story at least, and the cycle of life and death, the communion of man with nature, spread from the natural world to the supernatural creating a unified whole. Thomas did an excellent job expressing this with both the form and content of her novel, successfully bringing a far distant world to life. Definitely recommended (though perhaps not the best choice for vegetarians).
Point Based On Books Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1)
| Title | : | Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1) |
| Author | : | Elizabeth Marshall Thomas |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 393 pages |
| Published | : | September 1st 1991 by Pocket Books (first published 1987) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Prehistoric. Fantasy. Anthropology |
Rating Based On Books Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1)
Ratings: 3.95 From 1540 Users | 86 ReviewsWrite-Up Based On Books Reindeer Moon (Reindeer Moon #1)
Well, I certainly enjoyed this more than I was expecting. In my youth, I read a lot of this type of prehistoric fiction, and found most of it very modern in feel, only set in some prehistoric land. This novel well and truly felt like the story was of another time. The characters were very primitive in their society; they related closely to the animals around them, to the point where they understood they were just another potential food source for a lion, and a competitor for food for a wolf. IThe Second TimeI first listened to this book as an audiobook. I worked in the PostageDid Unit at the Toledo Main Post Office at that time. It was a great job. As I weighed Mail to catch postage due I could listen to audiobooks. It was great for 2.5 hours everyday then I went to another job. I decided to read this book again 20 years later. It was as interesting in print as it was as an audio book. Yanon is quite the hero. I would recommend to young women.
This is the kind of book Jean Auel intended to write when she wrote Clan of the Cave Bear and then Valley of the Horses. (My biggest complaint about Auel's series was the routine intrusion of sex that reminded me of a tawdry Harold Robbins novel.) Thomas succeeds as best as any writer has in opening a pathway to an imagined world of 20,000 years ago in the Siberian tundra when our ancestors were just another animal tribe. It's a world fraught with shamans, shape-shifting spirits and magical
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' "Reindeer Moon" is a wonderful pre-history story, much in the same catagory as "The Clan of The Cave Bear." Its not about mammoth hunters, although some of the can do hunt mammoth. There is no drama of a captured woman or child... only the gifts of a marriage exchange, and the arguments about the gifts. These people seemed to be much more 'progressive' than the Cave Bear people though. They built their own shelters, and understood the concept of numbers. I think the
This is the book I have always wanted to read about life in another time. You don't just see what these prehistoric characters are doing--you're right there with them, living their lives, sharing their thoughts, understanding their motivations. And believing completely in the traits they have that we have lost. I was transported.
This review applies to both, Reindeer Moon and The Animal Wife by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. First, I have to say that as much as I love Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series, these two novels are simply the very best fictional accounts of prehistoric life on the steppe-tundra of the Altai region of Siberia during the late-Upper Paleolithic, i.e., about 20,000 years ago. The characters in Thomas's books are anatomically modern humans, i.e., Homo sapiens, and based upon the lifestyles of the
I wanted to like this, but couldn't. The characters are all very self-centered, and the only relationship that felt normal or healthy was between the main character and her younger sister. The various relationships and the MC's emotions change rapidly and inexplicably, making her and the other characters hard to believe in. One character makes a speech about how it's wrong to beat your wife, then in the next chapter does it himself, without any indication of why he changed his mind. The story is
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.