The Hare With Amber Eyes
The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller
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4.1 • 89 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
**WINNER OF THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD**
Edmund de Waal uncovers the history of a family through a turbulent century through 264 objects.
264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them bigger than a matchbox: Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in his great uncle Iggie's Tokyo apartment. When he later inherited the 'netsuke', they unlocked a story far larger and more dramatic than he could ever have imagined.
From a burgeoning empire in Odessa to fin de siecle Paris, from occupied Vienna to Tokyo, Edmund de Waal traces the netsuke's journey through generations of his remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century.
'You have in your hands a masterpiece' Sunday Times
'The most brilliant book I've read for years... A rich tale of the pleasure and pains of what it is to be human' Daily Telegraph
**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY*
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this family history, de Waal, a potter and curator of ceramics at the Victoria Albert Museum, describes the experiences of his family, the Ephrussis, during the turmoil of the 20th century. Grain merchants in Odessa, various family members migrated to Vienna and Paris, becoming successful bankers. Secular Jews, they sought assimilation in a period of virulent anti-Semitism. In Paris, Charles Ephrussi purchased a large collection of Japanese netsuke, tiny hand-carved figures including a hare with amber eyes. The collection passed to Viktor Ephrussi in Vienna and became the family's greatest legacy. Loyal citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Vienna Ephrussis were devastated by the outcome of WWI and were later driven from their home by the imposition of Nazi rule over Austria. After WWII, they discovered that their maid, Anna, had preserved the netsuke collection, which Ignace Ephrussi inherited, and he settled in postwar Japan. Today, the netsuke reside with de Waal (descended from the family's Vienna branch) and serve as the embodiment of his family history. A somewhat rambling narrative with special appeal to art historians, this account is nonetheless rich in drama and valuable anecdote. 20 b&w illus.
Customer Reviews
The hare with amber eyes
Excellent read
Ms.
It requires some patience to get past the slow introduction to this book but your patience will be more than rewarded by the generational story which takes you from a Jewish village in the Ukraine, to trading in Odessa in the 1800s, to fashionable living and the Salons of Paris in the late 19th Century, Vienna at the turn of the Century, through the First World War, the inter war period and beyond. The reader is cleverly transported through these times of seminal and historical importance for the Jewish Ephrussi family with the use of rich language, social understanding, compassion, wonderful architectural description and all against the pan European historical background of the time clearly and starkly told. It transports the reader right into to the living of the time. It is a story that starts with the collection of Japonisme in Europe in the late 19th Century ... and so much more. A very moving, cleverly written and interesting book. this is not light reading but it is compelling, once you have got a distance into it.
Cannot praise enough
Beautifully written as well as extremely moving. Cannot say thank you enough to the author for writing this book. I learnt so much about history of not just Europe but also my country Japan. One little thing I noticed is there are a number of errors in the romanised Japanese words. Perhaps these should be checked in future.