The Hare with Amber Eyes
A Hidden Inheritance
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The Hare with Amber Eyes
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Narrated by:
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Michael Maloney
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By:
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Edmund de Waal
About this listen
Winner of the 2010 COSTA Biography Award. A total of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his Great Uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the ‘netsuke’, they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined.…
The Ephrussis came from Odessa, and at one time were the largest grain exporters in the world; in the 1870s, Charles Ephrussi was part of a wealthy new generation settling in Paris. Marcel Proust was briefly his secretary and used Charles as the model for the aesthete Swann in Remembrance of Things Past. Charles’s passion was collecting; the netsuke, bought when Japanese objects were all the rage in the salons, were sent as a wedding present to his banker cousin in Vienna.
Later, three children - including a young Ignace - would play with the netsuke as history reverberated around them. The Anschluss and Second World War swept the Ephrussis to the brink of oblivion. Almost all that remained of their vast empire was the netsuke collection, smuggled out of the huge Viennese palace (then occupied by Hitler’s theorist on the ‘Jewish Question’), one piece at a time, in the pocket of a loyal maid – and hidden in a straw mattress.
In this stunningly original memoir, Edmund de Waal travels the world to stand in the great buildings his forebears once inhabited. He traces the network of a remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century. And, in prose as elegant and precise as the netsuke themselves, he tells the story of a unique collection which passed from hand to hand - and which, in a twist of fate, found its way home to Japan.
This audio edition also features an interview with Edmund De Waal from the Vintage Books podcast.
©2011 Edmund de Waal (P)2011 Random House Audio GoWhat listeners say about The Hare with Amber Eyes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jane Lorimer
- 29-07-2022
A Joy
This is a marvelous audiobook. The story is fascinating and beautifully read. I have only one small criticism and that is the pronunciation of ‘netsuke’. According to the author interviewed after the book finishes, it is nets-kay, not net-soo-kay.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jane
- 14-05-2016
A Journey into Personal Memoir, Art and History
Would you listen to The Hare with Amber Eyes again? Why?
I would listen to extracts of the book again as I loved the way de Waal talked about Impressionist art.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hare with Amber Eyes?
The most memorable moment involved life in Vienna during WW2. (I don't want to give anything away!)
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
The story unfolds beautifully and the characters come alive with each chapter so that I reacted emotionally when they experienced difficulties. And, yes, there were tears!
Any additional comments?
Stay with this one..... I found it slow at first and was almost going to return it. And then, suddenly, I was immersed in the author's world! Wonderful - the best read for 2016!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-10-2018
Epic tale!
Loved this book! Amazing story teller is Edmund De Waal! Great narration! Especially with the pronunciation of German French and Japanese
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Blair
- 27-06-2017
Never before have I found something so beautiful
That this is The authors first book is amazing. This book is the kind that almost anyone could read and adore. It’s not because it’s an easy book, it’s not but it’s beautiful and human and fascinating. It is a book people need to read, it is a book people should want to share with others. This is one of my all time favourites and I revisit it often. The narrator does a great job too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MEW
- 13-09-2018
Clearly deserves every accolade that has been showered on it
How on this earth does Edmund De Waal write so addictively. I read the book then jumped out of my skin when I saw it was on audible. Much better for me on audible as have to listen, really listen. What an absolute total joy. I was enlightened, educated and entertained. Thank you for a glorious book. Please write more and more.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 02-03-2024
Very good read
So rich in content and learnt so much about historical events. Beautifully written. Very well researched.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Margaret Fisher
- 05-04-2015
An Artist's Journey
This book is finely crafted: it unearths family history, while tracing the goings and comings of the 246 tiny netsuke Edmund de Waal inherited from his much-loved great-uncle Iggie. We visit fin-de-siècle anti semiotic Paris, Vienna, Odessa. We witness loss, rawness,and survival. Each of these aspects is based on such a personal realisation of stories,that when the journey ends back at home in London, the reader feels they have shared centuries,and come to know the Ephrussi family. The tones and language used are indicative of a finely tuned artist at work, but one who values greatly the ' tactile authenticity' of the words shaping / recording his research. It is fine, intelligent,sensitive literature, well deserving of its awards, and is beautifully read by Michael Moloney in this Audible presentation. I have a sense of grief in losing company with both Edmund & Michael as I end my reading of this wonder- full work of art.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sara
- 15-12-2015
exquisite
A wonderful read. De waal's storytelling is extraordinary. The family's tale is theatrical and heart breaking. De Waal brings the characters to life like no other author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- David Hinchliffe
- 11-07-2022
Brilliant biography
This is much more than just biography. The author takes us into the larger than life world of an upper-class Jewish family whose wealth was created in Odessa, Paris and then Austria against a background of virulent antisemitism that spirals ultimately to the rise of Hitler and the downfall of the family. Against this epic story, the tiny handcrafted Japanese netsuke miniatures become an unlikely talisman that symbolise the family’s survival in the face of financial collapse and holocaust genocide. If this isn’t made in to a Netflix series I’ll eat my fedora.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth C
- 07-03-2024
Multifaceted story
This was an intriguing and educational story on many levels. As the author said the book took on a life of its own. Normally that might be a bad thing, but not in this case, as we went on the journey with the author, simultaneously discovering his family history. I’m glad we also got to meet the author at the end of the book and in the interview. I loved the narrator also, but marked him down, as, as someone else has noted, he spent the whole book mispronouncing netsuke. How could that happen?
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