The Valley of Horses
discussion
Reviews say - these books are ice age pornography


Knight


I hate when authors include stuff that has no relevance or significance to the actual story. I admire books (and movies) where the only things that happen are directly involved in the story, and they avoid "fluff", which is just to fill pages and make the story look longer than it is.
Another problem is that a few things seem terribly unlikely - one girl taming a horse and a dog and a lion and inventing the spearthrower and flint, that it takes away from the seeming reality - apart from those things and the sex, it really really feels like you are in the time and place. It's a shame really, that she couldn;t polish it up as neatly as a more experienced author. She should have kept this story for when she was a better storyteller. She can't really rewrite it now.





HOGWASH!"
Agreed! I loved all of these books. I have only one of them, but that's because I don't have the money to buy them in hardback. Auel is a great writer, the sex is only another part of the story, it spices up the story and helps you to understand how much Ayla and Jondalar love each other, that they can come together in that way over and over despite the difficulties they face. They are never too tired to be together.




That being said, sex scenes in the Earth's Children series were like every other aspect of the writing--overly repetitive and increasingly pointless as the series continued.

Knight wrote: "Ecoutez-moi ma cherie: in such a long travel WITHOUT TV & Internet, what is there to do but to eat, sleep, and have sex. It is good, oui?!
Knight"
Knight wrote: "Ecoutez-moi ma cherie: in such a long travel WITHOUT TV & Internet, what is there to do but to eat, sleep, and have sex. It is good, oui?!
Knight"
Renee wrote: "I disagree.
Why do 90% of the reviews listed on this series say there is too much pornography? It is the furthest thing from it. Do any of you understand that sex is natural? And EVEN MORE natural..."
Renee wrote: "I disagree.
Why do 90% of the reviews listed on this series say there is too much pornography? It is the furthest thing from it. Do any of you understand that sex is natural? And EVEN MORE natural..."

It's a book... I believe it is well researched, but that doesn't mean she can't have a story line.. The only w that drove me nuts was the introductions...lol

Disagree: 1)The sex was not overdone, it was natural and described in detail that's all. What's interesting is how people think it's pornographic but still keep reading the books. 2) For those who think that some of it is "unlikely"...that's why it's called FICTION.

Disagree: 1)The sex wa..."
Well said Michelle.

Well said. That's exactly what I was thinking as I followed this thread..almost. I was also thinking about Ayla's discovering that it's an act of love and pleasure, not just another expression of inferiority of women. It took her awhile to understand completely. Didn't she respond to that one guy thinking she was obliged (even though she had a good time)? But there did come a point in the books where it really didn't add to the story, didn't function to demonstrate differences in cultures or groups. After awhile it did seem redundant.

Disag..."
I agree with you both. Simply stated and accurate observation.

novelists are way out of my league.

What I found annoying about Auel's writing was her continually repeating Ayla's history. It reminded me of a radio program: "If you're just now joining us, this is what we're talking about...." Half the words could have been cut out and still told a complete story.
Still, I have to take my hat off to Auel. In a pre-internet age, she did some amazing research for these books.

Ditto. My only complaint about the sex too. I got it. It was beautiful, meaningful and good, had different views and approaches taken to it in different cultures, due to those variances "betrayal" of each other was not intentional, and they discovered a desire to be monogomous. We know you have to repeat somewhat, but rinse first. Repetitive. Loved the books and could only aspire to do that research. Hell, I think I'm getting smarter watching Nat Geo, but her work!!?? Yikes!


I ditto your ditto



Why do 90% of the reviews listed on this series say there is too much pornography? It is the furthest thing from it. Do any of you understand that sex is natural? And EVEN MORE natural ..."
Very well said Renee.




Well said! I love that Ayla finds out what love really is.


Haha I know! I felt sorry for Jondalar's other girl back at that one tribe. If I remember correctly she had his child? Why did we really need to see them to together?


Why did we have to see practicall all of his journey? Early on I kept thinking, 'this will lead to Ayla, right? He's going to get to her soon?' After a while I just gave up and then when he did meet her it felt really abrupt. I mean why did we have to see him making babies and living with another tribe for a year or so?


Yea I don't why either. I didn't mind learning about his life too but none of it seemed to help us get to know his personality. I would have rather read more about him as a person than his escapades with other women.

I enjoyed seeing the author's extensive research brought to life in portraying how people lived in such harsh times. Altho, I must say that it does get wearing after a while, with her Prometheus-as-Ayla inventing everything from pyrite-spawned-fire to needles to domesticated animals.


For Ayla's part of the story she's alone until the last few chapters, you're right, but half of the story is with Jondalar. That's where all the sex comes in.

I lived on those Steppes and can still recall parts of that landscape conjured up by Jean Auel.
Ayla was my heroine, a medicine woman who was strong and a survivor, determined to beat the odds. BTW my mum, now 84, loved those books, and never once described them as porn. Sex, folks, is normal!

I totally agree. The fact that the sexual side of life is part of the story and the reader may be a bit uncomfortable does not make this pornography.

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Why do 90% of the reviews listed on this series say there is too much pornography? It is the furthest thing from it. Do any of you understand that sex is natural? And EVEN MORE natural and accepted in those times and cultures. Plus, Auel doesn't really 'overkill' the love scenes until the plains of passage, when all there is to do is travel and have sex. The rest of the time - it's brief and to the point. Never lasting for more than a page or two. I say - "If it makes you that damn uncomfortable... have more sex."