I have what I think will be an unpopular opinion about this book. I think it stands the test of time. I think it was actually ahead of its time in talking about women’s right, knowledge acquisition, how we define intelligence, and also how we treat people that are different than us. The book does have a lot of really hard scenes and a lot of graphic scenes of violence against women.
For me, Clan of the Cave Bear is an unflinching look at the damage patriarchal societies do to the psychology of what is means to be a womxn. To immediately be seen as less than based on gender and gender roles. Any society that has gender-based roles has gender oppression. We see this impact in the way womxn are treated. This book tells it form the point of view of the survivor which brings a humanity into it. The loss of her child, because her tormentor decides that her child should be taken is what many womxn experience around the world today. This book is timeless because the atrocities against womxn still persist.
I know at first blush it may not feel like treatise against patriarchy, but a deeper look reveals parallel. The entire tribe is complicit in the violence she endures. Like so many womxn living today in domestically violent homes. Friends, family, and even neighbors turning a blind eye rather than saying this is wrong is very similar to what happens in the book. I know this may be a surprise considering my feelings about Dune. I think the key difference in the two books is that Clan of the Cave Bear is told from the viewpoint of the oppressed rather than the viewpoint of the oppressors. There is also not an outsider that comes to the rescue but rather fate. I would say more but I want my reviews to be as spoiler free as possible