The Hare with the Amber Eyes - 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.

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."

This is a stunningly written book. A keen sense of aesthetics and beauty pervades the pages. de Waal is a fine writer, bringing an artist’s sensibility to this other medium: a meticulous attention to the detail of language, its rhythms and its evocative potential. Read the book for its exhaustive descriptions of interiors, whether bel époque Paris or Wiener Werkstatt Vienna; for its evocations of historical moments like fin de siecle France, or Austria at the time of its annexation by Hitler and his Nazis, or immediately post-war, bombed-out Tokyo; or for its compassionate portrayal of flawed and fascinating human characters. De Waal's family history is fascinating and I was particularly interested in the link to Proust, Monet and Great Great Uncle Charles being the model for Swann, I found myself googling certain artworks to spot the family members. I loved this book from the way that is pulled you into these spaces, and made you feel the grandeur of the past. 

However I must say, there were a few things that frustrated me. A wronged sense of entitlement pervades much of the book. The accumulation of wealth is seldom a neutral thing; especially in a family of bankers. A lot of energy/ time goes into describing how the family lost most of its wealth under the Nazis (the description of the Kristallnacht mob entering the Ephrussi building and ransacking the furniture is blood-curdling). I did feel for the family, to watch your family home ripped apart and your belongings forcefully packed up and sent away. The pages describing the packing up of the father, Viktor's library, were heart breaking. However, no moral judgment is passed on how the Ephrussi had been spending their money until then, nor is the reader left any clearer as to how the Ephrussi's fortune was amassed so quickly in a few short decades only. I would have been interested in some detail about the lives of those who made them and the conditions in which they were made; and perhaps some sense of the contrast of fabulous wealth with society around them. I also felt a little uncomfortable that the servants were just referred to by their first names, could they really not find out their surnames?

The one character I genuinely would loved to have learned more about was de Waal's grandmother, Elisabeth. At a time when women were tied to the house, Elisabeth broke all glass ceilings and became a lawyer. She was one of the first women to enter the University of Vienna. Her accomplishments flare up time and again in the book and I enjoyed those bits. However, she did not play a major part in the narrative.

The book is supposed to be about the journey of the netsuke that Edmund de Waal inherited from his family. These netsuke are beautiful works of art plundered from a Japan reeling from civil war by Europeans who bought up everything cheap, and then called it their own. In a story touted as a book about objects so intrinsically Japanese there is one Japanese person in this entire book. de Waal never tries to find anything about the netsukes before they came into his families possession. It felt painfully euro-centric. Just a little bit of exploration of where these netsuke originally came from would have been appreciated. 

I understand that Japonisme was a trend and I don't expect incredibly wealthy Charles Ephrussi to give a damn about the Japanese, however de Waal talks about his own uncle buying more treasured artefacts from the impoverished Japanese at a throwaway price after the Second World War. How shameless can you possibly get? Weren't your family members just subject to the same humiliation by the Nazi's? Why would you do that to others? At least, pay the right price for what you basically stole! And you dare to write a book about your family's avarice?!

I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who is interested in art, history and beautiful things. It really was a feast for the senses. Charting history and changing social times through one family is a brilliant way of making history feel alive. I thought that was inspired. Just be aware of the drawbacks to the book. 

Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward.