The Hare with Amber Eyes

Book Description

Critics

• 'The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance' by Edmund De Waal

  Edmund De Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes won the 2010 Costa Biography Award. And yet this book is not a biography as such. It's a mix of memoir and history, with a little bit of art and some travel thrown in for good measure. The hare of the title i ... (read full critics)

  readingmatters published on Mon, 12 Sep 2011

• The Hare with Amber Eyes

  When Edmund de Waal inherited a collection of finely carved netsuke (toggles used in Japanese male dress) from his beloved great-uncle Iggie it propelled him on a journey of discovery that tracks the ascent and decline of the Ephrussi family, his Jew ... (read full critics)

  bookgroup published on Thu, 9 Jun 2011

6 Reviews

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  I can`t make up my mind about this book.
  It was recommended to me by people whose opinion I respect and is about the sort of subject I like. I`ll make an analogy.

  There`s a pond of water covered in an oily scum, and on its bed is a sunken treasure chest. You really want to see this chest and k ... (continue)

  I can`t make up my mind about this book.
  It was recommended to me by people whose opinion I respect and is about the sort of subject I like. I`ll make an analogy.

  There`s a pond of water covered in an oily scum, and on its bed is a sunken treasure chest. You really want to see this chest and know that whatever`s inside it is going to be fascinating, but the only way you can see it is by sticking your head into the pond. And it is interesting, but when you resurface you`re covered in the oily scum. Even when you`re down there looking, you`re still aware of the slime above you so you have to concentrate really hard at the interesting contents of the chest and ignore the slime that distracts you.

  That was how I felt reading this book. The provenance of the netsuke makes an interesting tale as they are brought from Japan, to Paris, Vienna, London and back, acting as a narrative link to deWaal`s uncommon family history　and I learned a lot about history, art and literature in those places, but the writer`s touch made me uncomfortable.

  Maybe it`s his short repetetive sentences. Maybe it`s his sections of description, leaden with adjectives. I can`t quite pinpoint the reason why his words ooze sickeningly over the story. I think he`s trying too hard to lend a poetic depth to every description and occurance. It irritated me further because I really wanted to love this book.

  That said, my aversion seems to be unusual as many people have read and enjoyed this "beautifully written" (Business Insider) book. And don`t let me put you off it because it is still a fascinating story.

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  Conrodette said on Dec 1, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  have netsuke will travel

  the true story of the travels from Japan to Vienna to Paris to London and so on, of the Ephrussi family's collection of Japanese netsukes which moved through the history of Europe in the hands of a family that lived through incredible highs and lows. A fascinating study of collectors and a collectio ... (continue)

  the true story of the travels from Japan to Vienna to Paris to London and so on, of the Ephrussi family's collection of Japanese netsukes which moved through the history of Europe in the hands of a family that lived through incredible highs and lows. A fascinating study of collectors and a collection as well as following the history of anti-semitism over 150 years.

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  Gail Paris said on May 17, 2012 | Add your feedback

• 

  The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

  When the author, an artist himself, inherits the netsuke collection of his great uncle, he finds himself inspired (or perhaps obsessed) to trace the history of the items within his family. His discoveries lead him to his family history, as he learns about the Ephrussis, the equal of the Rothschilds ... (continue)

  When the author, an artist himself, inherits the netsuke collection of his great uncle, he finds himself inspired (or perhaps obsessed) to trace the history of the items within his family. His discoveries lead him to his family history, as he learns about the Ephrussis, the equal of the Rothschilds in the European finacial world of the 19th century, but unknown today. From Paris, where a mania for things Japanese led to the purchases of the netsuke, to Vienna, whence they went as a wedding gift, and back to Japan, or from one war-ravaged landscape to another, these tiny art works and the fortunate people who owned them come to vivid life. As the Nazis smother Austrian Jewry, the author feels his family's suffering on a personal, visceral level, as painful to read as it was for him to write.
  For anyone with interests in art, European history, family sagas, and stories which sweep their readers completely into new worlds. Highly recommended.

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  Claredeer said on Feb 4, 2012 | Add your feedback

• 

  I began this a couple of days ago and I'm entranced. The Hare with Amber Eyes is the history of a collection of miniature 18th Japanese figurines called netsuki and the biography of the various owners of the collection. Already, the first half of the book is proving to be art history of the best kin ... (continue)

  I began this a couple of days ago and I'm entranced. The Hare with Amber Eyes is the history of a collection of miniature 18th Japanese figurines called netsuki and the biography of the various owners of the collection. Already, the first half of the book is proving to be art history of the best kind, accessible and beautifully written, the kind which makes the reader pause and reflect, the kind which urges the reader to find out more about the period, the kind which inspires her to pick up those glossy coffee table books and to go through them finally, not just to view the prints but to garner additional information from the text. This is therapy for the soul.

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  Top of the pile said on Sep 11, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  A wonderful, wonderful book. Tactile grace - exactly like de Waal's beautiful ceramics.

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  ilariainthelibrary said on Sep 2, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  I LOVED this book. What a wonderful surprise. I was looking forward to the content but the writing is truly wonderful. Great history, great atmosphere!

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  Psc said on Mar 28, 2011 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (30)
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• English Books
• Others 368 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0374105979
• ISBN-13: 9780374105976
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Pub date: Jan 01, 2010
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Danske bøger

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