Name: Owen Kraft's review of The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
Item: The Hare with Amber Eyes
Rating: 2
Author: Owen Kraft

Edmund de Waal

The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who “burned like a comet” in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost the only thing remaining of their vast empire was a collection of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox. The renowned ceramicist Edmund de Waal became the fifth generation to inherit this small and exquisite collection of netsuke. Entranced by their beauty and mystery, he determined to trace the story of his family through the story of the collection. The netsuke—drunken monks, almost-ripe plums, snarling tigers—were gathered by Charles Ephrussi at the height of the Parisian rage for all things Japanese. Charles had shunned the place set aside for him in the family business to make a study of art, and of beautiful living. An early supporter of the Impressionists, he appears, oddly formal in a top hat, in Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. Marcel Proust studied Charles closely enough to use him as a model for the aesthete and lover Swann in Remembrance of Things Past. Charles gave the carvings as a wedding gift to his cousin Viktor in Vienna; his children were allowed to play with one netsuke each while they watched their mother, the Baroness Emmy, dress for ball after ball. Her older daughter grew up to disdain fashionable society. Longing to write, she struck up a correspondence with Rilke, who encouraged her in her poetry. The Anschluss changed their world beyond recognition. Ephrussi and his cosmopolitan family were imprisoned or scattered, and Hitler’s theorist on the “Jewish question” appropriated their magnificent palace on the Ringstrasse. A library of priceless books and a collection of Old Master paintings were confiscated by the Nazis. But the netsuke were smuggled away by a loyal maid, Anna, and hidden in her straw mattress. Years after the war, she would find a way to return them to the family she’d served even in their exile. In The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of a remarkable family and a tumultuous century. Sweeping yet intimate, it is a highly original meditation on art, history, and family, as elegant and precise as the netsuke themselves.

A Family's Century of Art and Loss

The Hare with Amber Eyes

Owen Kraft

Peter Read

Started a little slow (who wants to read about some other family's collection of little Japanese figurines?) but very quickly becomes indescribably fantastic.

Edmund De Waal

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2010 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 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' Frances Wilson, 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' Bettany Hughes, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year 'A complex and beautiful book' Diana Athill

A Hidden Inheritance

Artas Bartas

In 2011, this book took the literary world by storm: magazines and newspapers were giving it glowing reviews, praising it as "the most brilliant book of the year," "richly original memoir," and "gripping masterpiece". Book critics fell over backwards to add it to all imaginable long- and shortlists, leading to several awards and honorable mentions. I imagine that a high rating (3.9/5) this book carries on the Goodreads website could be attributed to this hyped up atmosphere rather than genuine merits of the book. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"The Hare With Amber Eyes" is a memoir of a distinguished Jewish banking dynasty you never heard of. The book recounts the story of the Ephrussi family: from the family of a wealthy grain merchant in Odessa, circa 1850, to his multiple sons and daughters settled in Paris and Vienna, to post-war Tokyo and contemporary London. The only family relic to survive these turbulent times is a set of 264 netsuke, delicate wood and ivory carvings from Japan. And so, rather than minutely follow multitude of characters, places and events playing a part in this family saga, the book follows the netsuke as they make their way from one member of the family to the next.

Unlike biographies of famous people, written to pique interest or settle scores, this book began as a personal project. Edmund de Waal, himself a descendant of the Ephrussi family, sought to reconstruct the story of the netsuke set as a way to learn about his ancestors. This explains why the author approaches the subject with such a gentle, sympathetic attitude. But the presence of the personal connection also makes the shortcomings of this book even more exasperating. Whenever I pick up a biography, I do so hoping it will show me the world through the eyes of other people. Make me aware of their emotions. Help me make sense of their decisions. "The Hare With Amber Eyes" fails to live up to this promise. 

One reason for this failure is purely objective. Even an accomplished writer would struggle to bring to life a dozen of historical characters in less than 350 pages. Edmund de Waal adds to this challenge by devoting so much space and energy to the peripheral subject of netsuke. I like Japanese tchotchke as much as the next otaku, but ploughing through a 50-page exposé on the history of netsuke has made me seriously reconsider the decision to read this book. The chapters of the book dealing with family members living in Odessa and Paris do not fare any better. De Waal draws on archival letters and newspaper clippings to evoke the lives of his relatives and the result is tedious and disappointing. 

It's only when the story moves to fin de siècle Vienna that Ephrussis finally come into view as feeling humans rather than upwardly mobile automatons. Touring Vienna downtown, on the corner of the Ringstrasse and the Schottengasse, Edmund de Waal finds a grand building built by his great grand uncle. And between vivid descriptions of the building, scenes from the Nazi Austria, and extracts from the personal memoir of his aunt Elisabeth, Edmund de Waal finally hits his stride. The humiliation of the Ephrussi family by the Nazi regime is infuriating and chilling. The family's desire to remain loyal subjects of their adopted homeland is doomed and exasperating. And the pages dealing with these aspects of the story bring a new sense of awareness of the Jewish suffering. 

In short, "The Hare With Amber Eyes" provides a powerful account of Austria’s slide into Nazism. Alas, as a memoir, it is too tedious and disorganized to capture the imagination of the reader.

Sabine Ballata

Pierke Bosschieter

**THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** **WINNER OF THE 2010 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD** 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 'A complex and beautiful book' Diana Athill **ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

The Hare With Amber Eyes

Sara Piteira 

Kathy Rodger 

Traces the parallel stories of 19th-century art patron Charles Ephrussi and his unique collection of 264 miniature netsuke Japanese ivory carvings, documenting Ephrussi's relationship with Marcel Proust and the impact of the Holocaust on his cosmopolitan family. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

Owen Kraft &
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Reviews

Join the club

Owen Kraft &The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Reviews

Join the club

Owen Kraft &
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal