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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
The HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-2 Prologue
Feb. 3-7 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 8-12 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb.13-17 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb.18-22 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001[
Feb. 23-27 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
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For Your Consideration
February 1-3
Prologue
1. Why do you think the author was awarded one of the eight scholarships to learn the Japanese language and culture? How old was he then?
2. What brings the author's uncle to Japan? How did Uncle Iggy come to possess the netsuke collection?
3. "Growing old in Japan is wonderful." Were there any reasons given to support this statement?
4. What do you know about the netsuke, how they were used? What are some of the characteristics de Waal admires about this collection Uncle Iggy has left him.
5. How old, how valuable are the netsuke the author's children play with, the medlar, the "losable" object he carries around London in his pocket, mingling with change and keys. (What is a medlar?)
6. What does the author intend to do in the three months he has cleared on his calendar? What is it he feels compelled to learn?
7. Do you have a "family archive," such as the one his father turned over to his son before he set out? That family tree annotated by his grandmother, for example.
8. Do you suspect those inscribed volumes by Thomas Mann are going to prove useful? Have you read any of his work?
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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We hadn't been planning on a discussion of this book for February - had something else in mind altogether. More about that in the Suggestion Box. But when one of our readers brought The Hare with Amber Eyesto our attention a few days ago, we were overwhelmed by Edmund de Waal's story and the possibilities for discussion it offers - history, mystery, art, human interes - something for everyone.
The author is not a writer by profession - he's a potter, but this book has taken Europe by storm, winning some of the most literary prestigious awards. "An international phenomenom" - De Waal could be any of us researching the family tree and finding a rich history worthy to share with the world.
We hope you will be able to get your hands on the book and join us in February!
ps. Forgot to mention - the author did study English at Cambridge University, though he chose to become a potter after graduation.
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My library has two copies.
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How's the waiting list, Fry?
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One out, one in right now. Hopefully, at least one is still available at the end of the month. In the meantime, I am waiting for another book to arrive today or tomorrow from the library.
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What a great heading, JOANP. The book cover alone was enough to intrigue me, and the
hare netsuke is so beautifully done I at first thought it was an actual rabbit,.. pardon me,
hare. I'm really looking forward to reading this book.
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Have the book on order.
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I used to go to gem and mineral shows. There were a few vendors who had displays of netsuke. Never bought any because I thought they cost a bit more than I wanted or could afford to spend. My collection is primarily small natural mineral samples and carved critters (my favorites are the agates because of the variations in color and pattern). I miss going to the shows.
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This story sounds fascinating - Book ordered - I am looking forward to this read. The book was chosen by The Economist in 2010 as a book of the year - and it won several awards including the Ondaatje Prize.
OK Jude you started all this ;) I had heard of these small bits of sculptured stone called Netsuke - Is that the collection that was hidden under the mattress - if so I understand the Netsuke is used as a toggle to hold onto a sash a small box or a small satchel that held personal items like tobacco, money, since Kimono's did not have pockets. Reading this book will finally push me to find out more about these miniature sculptures. I remember seeing some in a museum back years ago. Here is a web site that includes a few pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsuke
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I am happy and overwhelmed by your choosing this book that I suggested. I'm sure it will be a great discussion.
Sadly our vacation (Feb2-12) hits right at the start. However I will be with you the rest of the time.
For those who are going to lead the discussion.. Both the friend who loaned me the book and myself found that the most important pages , ones we referred to over and aover again, are those of the Family-Tree at the begginning of the book.
It s a good idea to print them out and not be afraid to write on the pages . Many of the families mentioned have members of the same name during the years under discussion. The family tree helps keep things straight while not taking away from the mystery.
I found that I had to pace myself. Some of the material is very thick with surprising facts and i read and reread those paragraohs in order to keep the narrative going.
All the efforts worthwhile. It is an unforgettable book!
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It was a pleasure to see those netsuke, BARB. Amazing how practical items for everyday
life can become such treasures when made with care and artistry.
Thanks for the tip, JUDE. I imagine frequent references to that family tree will be needed,
considering the generations covered in the story.
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Will try to get the family tree in the heading for easy reference once we get started! Thanks for the tip, Jude.
Barbara...enjoyed the link to netsuke - especially this remark:
"Today, the art (netsuke) lives on, and some modern works can command high prices in the UK, Europe, the USA, Japan and elsewhere. Inexpensive yet faithful reproductions are available in museums and souvenir shops."
Knowing they were old, though totally unaware they were valuable, I smiled when reading a review of the book, that de Waal's children used to play with them - as my kids used to play with those little animal figurines that came free with each box of Red Rose tea...
I'm on the hold list at my library for the book...but think I'll break down and buy it. I've heard the illustrated edition is scruptious. If/when I get the library copy, which is illustrated, I'll scan and share with you all...
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I've got the sample on my kindle. But I'll see if my library has a copy too, for the illustrations.
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I'm getting anxious...it looks like the scrumptious illustrated Library copy I've been waiting for is not moving fast enough up the HOLD list to get to me in time for the start of this discussion. I'm thinking I'll have to break down and buy the paperback... and then as soon as the library notifies me, I'll go for the Illustrated edition. Does anyone here have the Illustrated copy? Is it wonderful?
In the meantime, I've been poking around for more background information on the potter, Edmund de Waal...and his family - the Ephruzzis. Many were surprised at how this book tracing his ancestry rose to instant fame, winning so many of the UK's prizes - literary prizes, at that. ( An Economist Book of the Year, the Costa Book Award Winner for Biography, Galaxy National Book Award Winner (New Writer of the Year Award)- the Ondaatje prize - (£10,000 award for evoking 'the spirit of a place')
The man can write!
I read that it really wasn't surprising to those who knew him. He read English at Cambridge, taking prizes before his graduation. The surprise was his decision to ...well, to make porcelain pots. He must have had some background in Art too...considering that family of his. OR, maybe he picked it up as he went back in history to research the Ephrussi family.
I can see where this book will appeal to those interested in collecting, in Art, in geneology - and in History! It all seems to come together here.
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The Hare With The Amber Eyes is one of the best books I have read this year. The author came to Australia and gave one lecture(?). My daughter got the last seat in the house and when she related to me about the netsuke I really wanted to own one. Good ones are dear. I did get it on my kindle but it is a book I want to read again. I usually do not come in to the discussions as I do not read as fast as the members here but enjoy the discussions on books that I have read. Hope you all enjoy. Author did say it was the only book he intended to write but he wanted to get the story out to the world. Junee
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Junee what a privilege to hear from you knowing you read our posts but do not read as fast as our paced schedule we do try to read a book within a month's time - your review of this book is priceless - thanks... did you get your netsuke? I noticed even the books about them on Amazon are quite expensive.
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BARB- No I did not get a netsuke but did go online and saw quite a few but ones I liked were out of my range. They are very intersting and I had never heard of such a thing before. From time to time I pick up name and author of books on this site and then go to kindle once I have heard a description. Am reading The House with a Thousand Candles at present and found first half very interesting but struggling with it now- but I must finish to know what happened.
Hope you are all not freezing over there- at present we are having very hot summer.
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"The Hare With The Amber Eyes is one of the best books I have read this year."
Junee! What a pleasant surprise to come in here today to find you here - with such a promising comment! You are so Welcome! Please promise you will join us...and don't worry about keeping up. As Barbara said, we move at a slow pace - and you will be reading the book for the second time. I think you will really enjoy this discussion group!
I was disappointed that our library's big illustrated edition is still not available...I'm #3 on the hold list - the library owns two copies of the book. Buut, I did purchase a paperback today and look forward to getting into it before next week, when we should be able to start the Prologue...and Part One.
As soon as I get the illustrated copy, I'll scan the Ephrussi family tree to keep in the heading for easy reference.
A hot summer! We are under cover of snow and temps in the low twenties today!
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JoanP,
Have you noticed that the second paragraph of the book's description is a repeat of the second half of the first paragraph? Thought you might want to change that. :D
Being a faithful reader and DL of non-fiction here, I was really looking forward to reading "The Hare,etc". But after I read 1/3rd of the book I have put it down. Found it too dryly repetitive and just plain boring. The most exciting paragraph was the story of Charles Ephrussi being one of the figures in Renoir's "The Luncheon of the Boating Party". Now there was a story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
And the best book I have read this year concerning the Jews in Europe during Hitler's rise, was "Crossing the Borders of Time" by Leslie Maitland. Fascinating family sojourn escaping Germany.
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Book sounds good. My library have not purchased it yet. It is in the system but the other library will not yet loan it out. They have to many names on their list.
I will ask at ours tomorrrow to see when it will be in. Get my name on the sist.
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I had my daughter call the library and ask them to reserve 'The Hare.." for me. There is
only one copy, and I didn't want to take a chance someone would take it before she could
get down there to pick it up. I hope to have it in hand today or tomorrow.
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Babi, that's such good news!...JeanneP, here's hoping you have the same luck that Babi had in getting a copy of the book. Annie, I hope we can coax to the discussion, and maybe even to pick up the book again. Perhaps you are missing something as so many are praising it so highly. Don't go too far, okay? I know you have much to contribute on different aspects of the book - Charles Ephrussi's art world connections, for example...
Off to read the Prologue....
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I'm on the hold list in my library. There are quite a few copies but it seems to be a popular book. I may have to break down and purchase a copy for the discussion :-)
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I just ordered my book from the Library today. There are two copies and both are available.
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I've read the prologue, and started the first chapter. I'm feeling remarkably lucky; just
finished reading Kapuscinsky's "Travels with Herodotus", and now I pick up a book by
another author with beautiful writing skills. De Waal is as thoroughly a master of language,
able to describe a scene a scene in a way that carries you there, as you are likely to find.
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Babi, that sounds like a great start!
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Yea!! My library ordered this book for me and I have been notified that it is in and available. I will pick it up tomorrow. I don't usually care for non-fiction books, but I have always thought that the netsuke were fascinating. I can't wait to begin. I am currently reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for my ftf book club's Feb. selection; so it looks like Feb will be a non-fiction month for me.
Count me in!
Sally
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Hooray, SALLY!
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Sally, that's great - and just in time for the Prologue discussion beginning Feb.1. See the tentative schedule in the heading. I think you're going to
like love this book!
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Hello again,
You can count me in for next month literary adventure.
It'll be a travel through time and European countries and with an Eastern touch.
I'm expecting a thrilling time.
Olle
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Sally and Olle, I'm very glad that you'll be joining the discussion.
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I have the book but I may not be in as often - Spring business started off with a bang.
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I'm glad you'll join us as you can, Barbara. I guess it's good news that business is going well!
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I picked up my book from the Library this morning and am well into the rather lengthy, but very interesting prologue.
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I picked up the book this am and have started the prologue.
Sally
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It's a pleasure to read this prologue, and get to know the author. His love for his art...pottery..is evident. His fascination with Japan, tho' I suppose that is natural enough, considering that the pottery of Japan is considered the finest in the world.
And we have an opening introduction to his family, to his great-Uncle 'Iggie' and his wonderful collection of netsuke. I began to feel I was taking a walk with a man I knew, a very interesting man, a very gifted man.
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Good thoughts, Babi. Everyone's comments have me looking forward to getting the book. I'm next in line at my library. ;)
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That's quite a prologue, isn't it, Babi? I couldn't help but think that de Waal's early experience in Japan was a prologue to his later quest of the netsuke history. I wonder how he came to be the one of eight lucky scholarship winners. Two years and a trip to Japan was quite an expensive prize, wasn't it? And a valuable personal experience as well - he got closer to Uncle Iggie while In Japan...and the netsuke collection.
Did you notice his reference to the "lost family fortune?" I'm ready to hear more about the Ephrussis, aren't you?
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I like having the family tree, also. I've referenced it several times already. The author didn't want to dwell on the lost fortune aspect in the prologue. Perhaps we will get more of a glimpse in the main sections. It will not come as a surprise if I find that the money and property was confiscated during WWII.
BTW here is de Waal's website: http://www.edmunddewaal.com/about/profile/ click on Making and you get various museum exhibitions. Click on his name at the top and you get a full screen slide show.
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Very interesting prologue. I love the part where he says, "There is no easy story in legacy. What is remembered and what is forgotten? There can be a chain of forgetting, the rubbing away of previous ownership as much as the slow accretion of stories".
I have found that true in my own family. I had 3 sisters, 2 older and 1 younger and we took a "sisters' trip" every year. When we reminesced (sp?), it was amazing how each of remembered the same event in different ways.
Sally
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
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For Your Consideration
February 4-8
Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
1. Le West End
Why did the author begin his search of the netsuke collection in Paris? Did Baron Haussman's new Paris make it possible for the Ephrussis to build on la rue Monceau in Le West End? What impressed you about the Ephrussi family home de Waal describes?
2.Un Lit de Parade
What were de Waal's first impressions of the first owner of the netsuke collection he's inherited? Does Charles seem to you to be a typical third child, especially one who is too rich for his own good? Are you keeping track of the number of times De Waal uses "gold" in these chapters? How does Charles redeem himself in de Waal's eyes?
3. A Mahout to Guide Her
Why does the writer, Edouard Goncourt attack our 'charming boy,' Princesse Mathilde's 'mahout' as he guides her through the art world? Is it jealousy because of his success, or is something else fueling his constant attacks?
4. So Light, So Soft to the Touch
What strikes you first about Charles new (first?) love, as they discover Japanese art together? What is the difference between their Renaissance Art collections and the new pieces they begin to acquire? Can the netsuke be far off now?
5. A Box of Children's Sweets
Do you find Sichel's purchase of those charming lacquer writing boxes for $1 each, located in 'Japan's treasure trove of art objects,' a steal? Do you agree with de Waal 'that greed plundered this country'? What did you think of the netsuke the poor would sell for the asking? Does de Waal consider his netsuke collection 'plundered objects'?
6. A Fox with Inlaid Eyes
Here they are, at last - a whole collection! Charles buys 264 netsukes - in a vitrine. What had Charles misunderstood about vitrines? Do you remember the vitrine he bought with the collection? Was it the same one de Waal first saw in Uncle Iggy's home in Japan?
7. The Yellow Arm Chair
Jules Laforgue provides an intimate image of the 'flaneurial' (?) Charles in his study, the yellow armchair and his fantastic art collection. Do you see any of your favorites on the wall?
8. Monsieur Elstir's Asparagus
Do you feel you are getting to know Charles and his artistic taste? Do you see similarities between Durer's sketches and the Impressionsit paintings he chooses, such as Manet's small still life of a bunch of asparagus? What does the artwork in his collection have in common with the netsuke collection?
9. Even Ephrussi Fell for it
Why did the fact that Charles had begun to buy some of Moreau's watercolors make his Jewishness suspect? How did the subjects of Moreau's work differ from the Impressionists Charles had been collecting? What worries de Waal about Moreau - and gold?
10. My Small Profits
"The Ephrussi are simultaneously loathed as upstarts and feted as patrons." Does this describe Charles' position in Parisian society now? Why is French anti-semitism growing at this time with "growing fissures" within Parisian Society?
11. A 'Very Brilliant Five O'Clock'
What will become of the out-of-place netsuke collection? in Charles' new home decorated in Empire style? Storage?
Does it seem that Paris either believes or doesn't believe that Dreyfus is innocent? Proust's character, Charles Swainn closely resembles Charles Effrussi, both Jewish men of the world, both Dreyfusards. What will become of Charles in Parisian society?
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Reminds me of what we just finished reading in Travels with Herodotus of Herodotus' thoughts and reasons for writing his Histories: How things get forgotten, things are remembered differently by different people, how stories are changed in the telling and passing on. So here is de Waal coming up against the same problem of remembering and forgetting and getting lost to history within his own family.
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"When we reminesced (sp?), it was amazing how each of remembered the same event in different ways."
PatH and I find that all the time. Isn't it strange.
The family tree on the kindle is goiong to be a problem. Hard to read, and when enlarged goes off the screen. I hope it isn't going to be important to keep people straight.
The day caught up with me, annd I'm not finished the prologue. But I'm glad he started in Japan, and his studies are interesting. Studying the Japanese character writing system, with a separate character for each word, is very difficult. I remember my niece, who studied Japanese in college and did a semester studying in Kyoto, saying in frustration "I studied Japanese for years, and I can't even read the ads on the trains!"
I believe they have also adopted an alphabetinc system. maybe PatH knows.
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1. de Waal was about 27 when he received the Daiwa Foundation Scholarship which exists to foster relationships between Japan and the UK. Here is their website.
http://www.dajf.org.uk/
7. No. Now that I am older, I wish we did. All my sisters and I have are lots of old photos, some don't say who the people are. Uncle Lou traced one part of the family tree and gave us copies. That's it. George's Mom, on the other hand was their family historian and archivist. When she passed, he gave all her materials to a cousin to organize, index and produce a DVD record in addition to the papers and photos.
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Thank you for those links, Fry! I had been wondering about that scholarship. The link clears that up - especially if you follow it to the application process. It's clear that Edmund de Waal earned the scholarship based on his porcelain work and his interest in Japanese potters.
His past was prologue. There was another link within that link with comments from previous scholars. You might find it interesting: http://www.dajf.org.uk/scholarships/scholars-experiences
Ooh, I want to be like George's mother. I am now the family matriarch- everyone sends me boxes of photos, documents...I need to get organized!
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Hopefully. We'll get a decent family tree into the heading soon, JoanK - preferably the one annotated by de Waal's grandma... :D
How about we extend the time spent on the Prologue another day so those who don't have the book yet don't get too far behind? There's a lot to talk about in that prologue...
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Thanks for the link to the previous scholars. One of them, Dr. Anne Gilbert, is working with the Kiva which has been mentioned in one of the other discussion groups.
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Most of the de Wall pottery is surprisingly plain and unadorned, isn't it, FRYBABE?
The shapes are pure and strong, tho'. I found another site, and in paging down I
found a few surprising departures from his customary style. Take a look...
http://www.edmunddewaal.com/
What makes this so interesting, I believe, is that de Waal isn't simply tracing the
collection of netsuke,...he's giving us the background, color and mood of the times
through 3-4 generations as well.
Since the pottery industry was an important one in Japan, both in income and artistry,
I think it logical that they would choose a dedicated potter as one of their prize
recipients. The whole idea of the project, as I understand it, was to establish links
with intelligent and talented prospects who would be able to speak Japanese
and strengthen Japanese-Anglo relationships.
(side bar: JOANK, I don't know why, but all the text is smaller on this site this morning.
I tried enlarging the text, but saw no difference. I'll check with my daughter, but I know I didn't
make any such text changes.)
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Most of the displays are little over much in the sameness department for me, but I did like his porcelains, and the white on white mugs and cups with the raised designs. I also, noted a very interesting way to display some of the pottery - cases embedded in the floor, very clever.
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I imagine the plain and simple lines were due to the Japanese influence as a very young man, Babi - I'd forgotten he'd studied ceramics before he went to university to study English literature.
Fry, as I read more about his porcelains, I am hearing the author talk about the weight of the pots. That's something I never considered. I do have a favorite cake platter, passed down from an aunt. This is so thin and so light, I always notice that aspect, when I pick it up. Did I tell you that we're on a short vacation right now? When I get home, I'll take a picture of it...and also see if I can post an Ephrussi family tree in the heading.
I'm interested in learning more about Uncle Iggy - and what brought him to Japan. I imagine we'll learn more about him - though Edmund knows his story before he begins the netsuke quest. He even knows about the netsuke collection. Do you see Uncle Iggy on the family tree in your book? And young Edmund's relationship to him?
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Thanks for the link to de Waal's pottery, Frybabe. It's frustrating, though. I think his work must have to be seen in 3 dimensions. I kept wanting to see them up closer, or from a different angle. With the arrays of white cylinders, all just a little irregular and all different, I wanted to move around them, compare their irregularities, see how they changed from different sides. He's very understated; he quotes his teacher, Bernard Leach: "be careful of the unwarranted gesture: less is more".
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" I am hearing the author talk about the weight of the pots." I was buying a hand thrown mug once, and the potter told me in buying a cup, to always test its weight by balancing it with a finger through the handle. If it feels heavy, it wont be comfortable to drink from.
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I wish the book had pictures of the netsuke. I want to see what he's talking about. A quick search turned up this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2010/jun/25/edmund-de-waal-netsuke-hare (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2010/jun/25/edmund-de-waal-netsuke-hare)
There are thumbnails of seven of them, and you get a bigger picture of whichever one you click on. One of them is the medlar he talks about. My computer dictionary defines medlar as
a small, bushy tree of the rose family that bears small, brown, applelike fruits. • Mespilus germanica, family Rosaceae.
• the fruit of this tree, which is edible only after it has begun to decay.
Now I know why it's important that the fruit is so ripe, but I don't know why he can see this in the carving, especially that it is riper on one side. Maybe if I had ever seen a medlar I would know.
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I have to admit to not having much reaction to his pottery. Except the one where you couuldn't quite see the pots through the cloudy doors. That made me want to spend time imagining things.
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I just made it before closing time at my library and got the book! Based on all of your interesting comments, I look forward to reading the prologue tonight!
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You'll enjoy it, marcie. It's graciously written, and very rich in details worth commenting on. I don't know if he can keep up the pace, but he's off to a good start.
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Pat, the prologue is graciously written. That's a wonderful adjective for his writing. His intent seems to be to make the netsuke very accessible. I feel he wants to hand them on to us, the readers, in a careful and respectful way. I like the way he introduces things in a somewhat roundabout way. It all seems very natural and easy but very artful. One thing leads to another. It's not a linear progression. It's more like a moebius strip where you can reach a destination from various points ( I may be influenced by the moebius strip analogy in There and Back Again by Pat Murphy which I'm also reading. ;) )
I am interested in his ideas about objects and whether they invite touching or picking up or admiring from a distance. Also his idea that "How objects are handed on is all about story-telling" and what the story means. One random thought I had about the netsuke's accessibility is that he carried one in his pocket. I think of them as a valuable collection and he says "Carry is not the right word for having a netsuke in a pocket. It sounds too purposeful. A netsuke is so light and so small that it migrates and almost disappears amongst your keys and change." He's got the netsuke in a pocket with keys and change!
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I found I had to go back and make some notes as I did not have a copy of the family tree as my copy is on kindle. It was surprising to read that the collection(all 264) were bought in Paris 1870 by a cousin of Waal,s G Grandfather 1870. We do not know who actually made this collection. I am looking forward to seeing the family tree if it becomes available on this site. I am not sure how that relationship works out. They are well travelled netsuke before they get to where they are now--London. Waafer
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A family archive? Yes, my grandmother's small incense burner. She lived in a small apartment and I can still smell the aroma of the incense she burned.
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The hardest part about the end of a vacation is coming home - unpacking, laundry, mail...a million things demanding immediate attention! I've a notice that my illustrated edition of Hare/Amber is available for pick up at the Library. Will attempt to scan the Ephrussi family tree this afternoon and bring it here. It is fascinating - really want to share it with those of you who don't have one to refer to. We can save it in the heading for quick reference.
Kidsal...would love to hear about your grandmother and her incense burner. On what occasions did she use it? Do you have it now, was it passed down to you? Do you know where it came from - had it been in her family?
"We do not know who actually made this (netsuke) collection." waafer
I was surprised to read that most of the netsuke were signed and dated. Surprised because these little pieces of wood and ivory were so small - the hare measures only one inch! Surprised because de Waal is carrying them around in his pocket, mingled with his keys and change, as Marcie pointed out. The author talks about how important it is to "touch" these items, to hold them but wouldn't you think the inscriptions would rub off after a few days in his pocket like this? Wouldn't the inscriptions be important to the value of the pieces?
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I was wondering what his collection looks like. Some of them are on his website; I missed them yesterday. Family archive of photos. Reading guide is also on website, but not this page.
http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/netsuke/
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Thinking about the value of the netsuke collection - I'm wondering how de Waal's pots are priced these days if you wanted to buy one. Every site I visited says you have to contact the galleries for prices. Do you think it's a matter of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it?" :D
"I have to admit to not having much reaction to his pottery."
JoanK
"With the arrays of white cylinders, all just a little irregular and all different, I wanted to move around them, compare their irregularities, see how they changed from different sides."
PatH
I've noticed within the link Fry brought us - clicking the "Making link" - http://www.edmunddewaal.com/making/ the photos are nearly all appear in groups, "arrays of white cylinders." Maybe you have to have more than one to fully appreciate their relationship one to the other? Would one little hare netsuke be worth near as much as the collection as a whole - even though the collection must have been put together from various sources at one time or another. These little pieces of art were probably bought for a song from the individuals who carved them.
Thanks for the information on the medlar, Pat and for identifying the medlar netsuke - this must have been a favorite of the author - he placed it before the Prologue in the illustrated copy of his book.
(http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/6/25/1277478095727/A-netsuke-belonging-to-ce-002.jpg)
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I thoroughly enjoyed the netsuke, PAT. I would like to see a great many more of them.
It is curious that the description says you can feel the ripeness of the medlar in
the netsuke. How would the sculptor accomplish that?
I agree, MARCIE. "graciously written" is a perfect description of the writing style.
I was worried about the netsuke getting scratched by keys and such. Can pottery be
readily scratched?
Of the pottery, I found the blue on white pottery bench(?) surrounding a tree very
lovely. It must have been a special project.
Oh, thank you, FRYBABE! That site is exactly what I've been wanting to see. Aren't
they lovely! I imagine now that all tradesmen, craftsmen, etc., would want a netsuke
that featured their business or craft. For some reason, the one that most caught my
eye, that I would love to have, is the faggot of pinewood logs. They are so realistic
and the colors are beautiful.
How about the rest of you? Is there one that really grabs you; that you would love
to own?
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I wanted to see if I could find a little more information about Charles, who figures large in the next section. Wikipedia has a lovely sketch of him. But this article, not directly about Charles, got my attention.
http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/objects-and-memories-edmund-de-waal-on-tracing-a-family-collection/
Here is a wordpress review of the book which has some very nice photos, including a sketch of Charles Ephrussi and the Grand Salon of the Musee Nissim de Camondo. Just scroll down below the family pix. If you don't like spoilers, it might be best to just look at the pix and don't read the text. http://robertarood.wordpress.com/2010/10/
If the book that Charles wrote about Albert Durer is translated into English, I haven't found it. Darn. If you read French, Open Library has it.
Babi, the bundle of sticks is my favorite, too.
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Thanks, Frybabe, for the link to the photos of some of the netsuke. I agree that the wood looks very realistic. I think I like the hare with the amber eyes best. I love the smooth, rounded body and the detail of one foot in the air. I like the medlar netsuke too.
JoanP, There is an article at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ed7eb9bc-6919-11df-aa7e-00144feab49a.html#axzz2JrbjmIzT that indicates that Waal receives from £2,500 to £50,000 ($3,929.75 to $78,595) for his porcelains.
The article indicates that his groupings of the pots are part of the art installation. He positions them precisely knowing that at some point they might be moved.
This new sense of fragility extends to entire collections. “Even collections you think of as being intact, codified and curated, safe and secure, end up broken up, looted, given away, smuggled out, chipped, put up for sale. And my kind of fugitive groupings of objects which seem briefly authoritative, I have no doubt they will be displaced, dispersed, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have this moment of trying to bring them into lyrical existence, knowing that the lyric might be a short lyric.” "
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Frybabe fabulous sites you have found - not sure which is more glorious - the blog Books To the Ceiling has so many wonderful links - the people this family knew is amazing - has anyone here during their travels ever visited the Waddesdon Manor? I did visit the musée Nissim de Camondo over 30 years ago but I was so overwhelmed with seeing so much art in Paris I did not do the visit justice.
deWaal's pottery is extraordinary - to find so many nuances within a simple shape - unbelievable - and the displays take your breath away - the one photo of the pots on a window beam looking at the window at some houses make the pots look all the world like chimney pots which make you start looking at how the pot shape is all around us that we take for granted.
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I could look at those netsuke for a long time. There's lots to say about them too. In the guardian site (the one with seven pictures) he says of rats "the point is where you put the tail. The tail is the most important bit because it's tucked away so only your fingers can find it. That's not true of the rat in that picture, but look at the first rat in the de Waal website, the one on the coil of rope. His tail is neatly coiled inside the rope, lying against a strand.
We see another view of the title hare, and there is another hare, leaning against a cake representing the moon. They are both lunar hares. In Japan there isn't a man in the moon, it's a rabbit, pounding the rice for a kind of rice cake.
We see the cooper making his barrel, with the craftsman's concentration that so impressed de Waal.
I'd hate to have to pick a favorite, but if you offered me one, I'd manage.
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Some of the netsuke on the de Waal website must have been added to the collection, either by Iggy or de Waal, since they are dated in the 1900s. I hope we find out about them too.
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Following one of Fry's links, I found this link which shows netsuke from another collection (in the Toledo museum). It has a picture of someone wearing a netsuke, so you can see how they were used. "Gentlemen" had collections of them, as they might collect cuff links or tie clips today.
To get it, click on Fry's link below, scroll down to the video of de Waal, click near the end. When it ends, you get a choice of further videos. Pick the second from left in the bottom row -- it has a picture of a netsuke, and when you move to it, it says "life in miniature".
http://robertarood.wordpress.com/2010/10/
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Joan, what a great website!! It was interesting to note that they are still being made. I was surprised to find that netsuke is pronounced "nets-kay" or "net-skay". In my mind, I was pronouncing it net-su'-key. I have become fascinated by these little figures. It would be hard to chose my favorite, although, I like the woman bathing in the tub.....and was surprised that it was called erotic!
Sally
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This could go on forever. After the Toledo video, there is a link to a video of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothchild at the top right. I was able to find it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvu5xAfUeyw
Maurice Ephrussi was married to married Beatrice de Rothchild, who commissioned the villa. He does not show up on the family tree, but he was a son of Charles Joachim Ephrussi and Henriette Halperson. Maurice and his older brother Michel were the uncles that opened the Paris branch of the family business. He died about four years after the completion of the villa. There is no narrative to the video, but the musical accompaniment is wonderful. Beautiful setting, wall tapestries, cases and cases of porcelains, figurines and the like, wall murals, and so on. So romantic.
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Help help a link please to the Toledo site where you see the movie - I went back to the blog where the long article was located amid photos of family and babies and hit all the links provided in that wonderful article but nothing to the Toledo museum so I Googled it and put in my search netsuke and the link was to the part of the museum with lots of netsuke stuff but no video - here is all I could find from the site
http://www.netsuke.org/
http://www.internetsuke.com/
http://www.toledomuseum.org/learn/reference-library/%C2%B7norman-l-sandfield-library/
http://www.netsuke.com/
http://www.asianartmall.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TNS&Affiliate=google&gclid=CKHUnIa4m7UCFVSTPAoday8AMA
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Oh dear crawling around the Internet I linked shunga netsuke - don't unless you like erotica
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Here is a link to the Villa Rothchild
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=CnAKQZHCWgQ
Thanks, Frybabe.
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Oh, Marcie, to be a gardener there. Gorgeous gardens, gorgeous exterior. There was a brief shot of Japanese influence on one of the garden paths.
Barb, here is the Toledo netsuke collection video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6demGQkQZE
I am well into Part I. The artists and writers/poets that Charles rubbed elbows with is awesome. And, as you can see from some of the photos, so was the wealth. I wonder if there is a list somewhere cataloging the Ephrussi items that made it to museums. I wonder about the ones that disappeared during the war(s) and what was destroyed.
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Breathtaking, isn't it, Fry? Not only rubbing elbows, but buying so much of it! At one point de Waal considered doing just what you talk about - visiting the museums that house his artwork today. I'll bet he could provide you with such a catalogue!
- We'll be spending the whole of Part One with Charles, but I'll bet there are some great stories in brother Ignace's background, as well. Not a word about the sister, Betty and half sisters.
It's a good thing for de Waal that Charles was a writer, an editor...and that he had such great and frequent press coverage. It made his task that much easier.
I was able to get to the Library yesterday and pick up the illustrated copy of the book. Though I tried to scan the family tree, it was difficult because of the size of the book. One half could not lie flat.
See if this gives you an idea of the family relationships. Someone mentioned Michel and Maurice yesterday. They are on the tree you probably have in your book - on the left side. You can see that Charles Joaquim Ephrussi was married twice. Two sons with first wife, Leon and Ignace. (Leon was our nets-kay (thanks, Sally) Charles' father)
Michel was the son of the second wife, which makes him netsuke Charles half brother. Maurice was his son.
See if you can read this tree - if it helps understand the relationships. Uncle Iggy and Edmund de Waal appear on the right side - as they descended from #2 son - Ignace.
link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
I can see a little magnifying glass that helps - do you see it? If this helps you, I can put it in the heading fpr future reference...
Do you notice that Charles and brother Ignace never married? Too bad for de Waal - that would have been another source of information for the author to chase down...
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The Ephrussi family tree goes back to Odessa...which I just learned was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia in the 19th century, after Moscow
Just looking at the "Ephrussi" name, I'm wondering if it might mean "out of" or "from Russia. But then, what was their name before they left Russia?
At the time of the Ephrussis' arrival in France, Paris was undergoing great change under the direction of Baron Haussmann... As beautiful as Paris is, I cringe whenever I read about how the medieval streets were razed to make way for the new...
Old Paris is gone (no human heart
changes half so fast as a city's face)…
There used to be a poultry market here,
and one cold morning… I saw
a swan that had broken out of its cage,
webbed feet clumsy on the cobblestones,
white feathers dragging through uneven ruts,
and obstinately pecking at the drains…
Paris changes . . . but in sadness like mine
nothing stirs—new buildings, old
neighbourhoods turn to allegory,
and memories weigh more than stone.
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How fascinating to find that Charles was the model for Charles Swann. And now we even
have a picture of him in a Renoir! Well, sort of. We can tell he was tall and lean and
had a small chin beard. (I checked the link in the article for Titian's 'golden woman', but
didn't find it.) This link is a real find, FRYBABE. I was also pleased to see that you
liked my favorite netsuke as well.
I'd hate to have to pick a favorite, but if you offered me one, I'd manage.
PatH ;D
Oh, yeah, PAT!
I think we were all mentally pronouncing it that way, SALLY. I know I was. 'Nets-kay', huh?
How did that 'k' sound get in there? I didn't see the servant in the bath as erotic, either, but it just
goes to show how tastes change.
I love the little contrasts. I'm admiring the splendid old building, and de Waal points out it's now an insurance company and a mundane pizza delivery is taking place. We look at huge, splendid houses, and are taken back to the days when it was all an unfinished , noisy building site. We learn about the Jewish migrants from all over the world who come to build and settle there, and something about them. Whole families, building homes next to one another. Financiers, bankers, artists, even chocolatiers. The Rockefellers had a branch there, and I was astonished to learn that de Waal's family, the Ephrussi's, were their rivals in wealth and power.
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Oh, right, JoanP. Henriette's side is represented. It just got put at the bottom. I missed it. Maurice and Michel were brothers. Michel was born in 1945 and Maurice in 1949.
I like your question about the family name history. Wikipedia has a quick explanation that it is a variant of
Ephrati http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrussi_family and a list of other prominent family members.
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Late, and like the slow reader I am, i must say that the Preface got me like a smooth caress from the past.
My first reaction was, you must read this book very slowly and let the words pour into - not only your heart, but into your brain and whole body. And it'll help you to endure and see all the beauties that sourrounds you.
I have never really been taken in by miniatures, but those "buckles" for elegant Japanese women's kimonos are so refined though they serves a common task. It's real craftsmanship.
My main reason to read this book, was the chance of getting to know better the history of Europe during "the belle Epoque" from pre-revolution days, through two devastating wars till now.
A question to you all. Why is the title sometimes The Hare with Amber eyes and sometimes Auburn eyes?
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When you get to it, here are some of the mentioned artworks:
p78. The Bathers at Grenuillere http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-oscar-monet-bathers-at-la-grenouillere
p79. Viscount Lepic and His Daughters:\Place de la Concorde http://19thcenturyart-facos.com/artwork/viscount-lepic-and-his-daughters-crossing-place-de-la-concorde
p80. Luncheon of the Boating Party. http://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/boating-party/index.aspx
Enlarge it and see if you can pick out the people he mentions. De Waal is bringing this painting, especially, alive for me. These were not just models or made up faces, they were Renoir's friends, people he hung out with, shared with.
I tried to find Two Women at the Haberdashers, 1880, (p74) but was unable to locate anything.
Two painters I never heard of:
Berthe Morisot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthe_Morisot
Alfed Sisley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sisley
The others mentioned on p74, I am familiar with but, so far, I haven't seen mention of which of their paintings Charles bought. I'd be especially interested in knowing which Mary Cassatt painting(s) caught his eye.
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
|
For Your Consideration
February 9-13
Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
12. Die potemkinsche Stadt
How does de Waal react to Vienna? What did the architect Adolf Loos mean when he said that the Ringstrasse was nothing but a hugh pretense? How does de Waal compare the netsuke with Vienna?
13.Zionstrasse
Why is Ringstrasse referred to as Zionstrasse? What is the "little bit of Zion" on Zionstrasse? What is your impression of Ignace?
14. History as it happens
What was Victor's upbringing and education? How was his brother and sister raised? How was the anti-Semitism in Vienna different from that in Paris?
15. "A large square box such as children draw"
How does the life Emmy and her family had in Kovecses (in the house that was "a large square box such as children draw") differ from de Waal's view of "Vienna as a crucible of the twentieth century" motif? What do you think of the small white suede book of pen-and-ink drawings of Emmy's family members?
16. Liberty Hall
How does de Waal describe the pattern of Emmy and Victor's lives? What is the life of Kovecses, in "Liberty Hall?" How are Charles and Ignace remembered in their obituaries?
17. History as it happens
What do we learn about Emmy and about Victor and their floor of the mansion? How do they compare with Charles? Where are the netsuke kept?
18. The sweet young thing
How is life for the children described? When do they see their mother? What details struck you? When do they play with the netsuke?
19. Once upon a time
How do the children play with the netsuke? What is the role of storytelling in their lives with their mother?
20. Heil Wein! Heil Berlin!
How does de Waal contrast the lives of Victor's family against the events surrounding the War? What are Elizabeth's aspirations?
21. Literally zero
What are some of the losses experienced by Viktor and his family after the war?
22. You must change your life
How did Elizabeth change her life? What do we learn of her love of poetry, "the world of things hard and defined and alive, made lyrical"?
23. Eldorado 5-0050
We catch up with the lives of Viktor, Emmy and their children. Do any of the details surprise you?
Related Links: link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
Ephrussi family photos (http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/)
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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"The family name is considered to be a variation of "Ephrati", a Jewish family name attested in various countries since the 14th Century and still current in present-day Israel, in this case transformed through the Ashkenazi pronunciation (Ephrati-Ephrassi-Ephrussi)."
Fry, that answers my question about the Ephrussi family name. Here's quite an interesting article on the Jewish settlement in Odessa (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11660-odessa)
"The gravitation to Odessa of a considerable number of educated Jews is largely ascribed to the fact that the higher local authorities have been favorably disposed toward the Jewish population."
"The economic importance of the Jews for Odessa and for the whole territory of New Russia has long been acknowledged. Even the anti-Semites themselves have admitted the beneficial influence of the Jews upon the commerce and industry of that territory."
"The export of grain, which recently became the staple trade of Odessa, contributes very largely to the employment of Jewish capital and labor." That is probably our Ephrussi family, no?
I'm wondering what the existing attitudes towards the newly arrived Jews in Paris was when the Ephrussis arrived. There was plenty of cleared land on which to build, the Ephrussi had the money to build and after all, this was La Belle Epoque. Charles and his family fit right into the Parisian society...
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Olle, let's make a deal - you take your time savoring the earlier chapters at your own pace - but promise to bring up the nuggets on La Belle Epoque that we may have overlooked. I'm not sure where you are seeing the hare with auburn eyes, though. The context? I see this little white ivory hare, (or is he cream colored?), with little pieces of amber for his eyes. I'm with you, Marcie, I'm in love with that little netsuke...
Does anyone remember the year the Ephrussi family moved to Paris?
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Olle, I'm glad you are joining us. I too hope you will share your insights into what we are hearing and seeing through the artist Edmund de Waal.
Joan, it was in 1871 that Charles Ephrussi moved to the newly built Hôtel Ephrussi, 81 rue de Monceau, in Paris, with his parents and brothers.
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JOANP
Was able to print the Family Tree and now it is so easy to trace the path of the netsuke collection . Some wonderful websites on here and enjoyed them all. Waafer
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I've had fun looking for the various artworks, too, FRYBABE. I do know that the tall man
in the background at the boating party, with the black suit and top hat, is Charles
Ephrussi.
Raphael 'cartoons' are apparently patterns for tapestries. On this site you can see four
of his cartoons, with a photo of the tapestry made from the fourth one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:V%26A_-_Raphael,_The_Death_of_Ananias_(1515).jpg
Charles does seem at first just to be the typical rich young man burning to spend his
money and have a great time. Finding an outlet in becoming an art writer seems to have
steadied and matured him a bit.
"The gravitation to Odessa of a considerable number of educated Jews is largely ascribed
to the fact that the higher local authorities have been favorably disposed toward the
Jewish population."
JOANP
I think that is the key component of any area where the Jews chose to settle. The
authorities found it most convenient to have them. The Jewish skills in banking, business,
and scholarship were all valuable and those in power protected them.
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Good morning, Babi I'm enjoying too looking at the artwork Charles is collecting. Thanks for the links, Fry. Trying to decide which to include in the heading...there is SO MUCH STUFF crammed into Charles' rooms. I can't help but wonder what his brothers' rooms were like. Was Ignace such a rabid collector too?
De Waal notes his early dislike for Charles...too much money for his own good. He seems to have endless funds. Is he expected to do anything at all to earn money? Is he on an allowance from his father? De Waal implies that Charles is behaving like a typical third child...no expectations, no one focussed on his behavior. Do you agree with his assessment?
Like de Waal, I found Charles' spending quite ridiculous, thought him too frivolous to have an interest in the rather simple netsuke collection in his possession - they were really quite simple, not flashy at first glance, were they? Nothing like that Renaissance bed. Do you suppose he actually sleeps in it?
(http://www.images-chapitre.com/ima1/newbig/270/39592270_8362974.jpg)
Babi thinks that his writing brought about maturity and influenced his taste in art. Do you agree?
ps Waafer, I'm glad to hear you were able to see the scanned family tree. I've just added it to the end of the heading for easy reference.
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JoanP, I think Charles was showing his inexperience in his early collecting - buying into a current fad, perhaps buying quantity over quality at first, buying bits and pieces of different eras, styles, etc. (Relatively speaking, of course, his quantity would still have been at a higher quality than I could ever afford.) Most collectors, amateur or otherwise, eventually settle on one or two types of items to collect and concentrate on them( mine are tins and minerals/gem, both as small small, natural samples, and small carved figures from rock/gem stones). His writing and studying would have given him the knowledge and with experience he would have been able buy the best of the best.
However, somewhere in these chapters De Waal did say that Charles wasn't so much interested in art as investment; he bought things because he LIKED them. Did Charles buy the netsuke because he liked them or because he bought into the Japanese craze and wanted something to display like at the then fashionable salons. Speaking of salons, I think they were an interesting phenomena in themselves. They seem kind of snobbish to me, but they did serve a purpose.
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After we read the Good Novel I continued to read more about Salons and they were very valuable - it was where the seeds of the Fr. Revolution and the idea of Democracy was born and discussed - Franklin and Jefferson both visited the Salons and it is where their concepts for Democracy were honed.
Also this was the last time and place that women had an equal voice and were using their wealth and beauty to create the Salons where they had a strong voice in choosing topics of conversation as well as they entered the conversations with equal fervor to the men. Most of the Salons were interested mainly in one overarching topic - like some where researching and discussing science another the arts and another politics and still another government and the history of government.
I did not know about the Pale separating parts of Russia, Poland and Prussia - it seems this was not a choice anymore than it was in Ireland. I became curious how the Jews got into Russia in the first place - this is not like a religion where a people are converted. To have a Jewish community there must be some who were members of one of the 12 tribes emigrate to an area. I have read now that the largest percentage of Jews in the World do live in Russia. I cannot find why or how but it appears the first Jews were in Russia in around the 7th or 8th century. Many for the next few centuries fled to Russia because of purges in other European nations.
This I thought was an interesting bit to share - yes, it is on the surface about the Jewish migration to America starting in 1880 - However starting on page 4 there is a history calendar with a run down of the events in Russia from 1800 that prompted Jews to leave Russia which would include the experiences of the family before moving to Vienna and Paris and may help explain why they were in Odessa.
http://www.fitchburgstate.edu/uploads/files/TeachingAmericanHistory/RussianJews.pdf
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I assume Charles is the one with his back to us, not the similiar one facing sideways? I've always liked that painting (it's in the Phillips, so I've actually seen it. And I have a jidsaw puzzle of it. Doing a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to focus on all the small details of a painting).
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Nice map of the Pale of Settlements
http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsi/pale.htm
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Fascinating information, Barb, especially when you consider how easily the Ephrussi family can move around the world. It 's their wealth, isn't it? Money talks. Charles' father, Leon, was able to settle into Le West End of Paris...the wealthy Jews bought up primo real estate there, just as his brother, Ignase was able to do in Vienna...he built an even more imposing home there just as the Ringstrasse was being developed where medieval streets had stood. Sound familiar? Money was needed for the development and the Jewish financiers had the money.
Are you noticing the many times de Waal uses the word "gold" and the color yellow in these pages? Sometimes I think he could be a bit more subtle as he connects the gold in the carpet & gilded picture frames to "golden" Louise and finally to Jewish gold.
Did you get the impression that de Waal was referring to all rich people - or specificly to the nouveau riche Jews who have recently entered Parisian society? Do you see any indication that Charles' Jewishness is an issue among his associates? Maybe de Waal is suggesting that it will become an issue with all this mention of gold and gilt?
What did you think Charles' relationship with golden Louise Cahen? Implications are that she was his soul mate - the love of his life. Did you notice on the family tree that he never married?
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Oh, good, JOANP. You found an example of one of those overly elaborate beds. It doesn't
look very restful, does it? I tried looking up 'lit de parade', and found the general
meaning was one of those altar like biers where important persons lie in state while the
masses of mourners pass by. I can imagine the deceased royalty of the Renaissance lying
in such a funeral bed.
We know Charles was a target for the vituperation of some of the anti-Semites of the day.
De Waal quotes some of the diarists and journalists who were obviously miffed at Charles
free entree into the fashionable world. It mattered not in the least that he was charming,
wealthy, knowledgeable in art and fashion. That just added fuel to the fire of resentment.
Reading the second and third chapters, I feel I have been invited to step into a world and time that is colorful, exciting, and filled with beautiful, exotic things. I am very glad to have such an able escort, however, when we venture into the fashionable salons of the day, which are described as "a minefield of fiercely contested geographies of political, artistic, religious and aristocratic taste." I don't doubt that his being a contributing writer to the most fashionable art magazine of the day contributes to my escort's warm welcome there.
Like today, such magazines cover all the social events, including the list of who was there and what they were wearing. And of course, for those 'in the know', the list was a "calibration of snubs and fine judgments." The key, I presume, being who wasn't on the list.
I did find the portrait of Charles' mistress. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonnat15.jpg Bonnet did the one of Charles Ephrussi also. I suppose the traditional course among wealthy families of marrying for dynastic purposes had much to do with the polite acceptance of love affairs among them.
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Interesting artwork. I think she looks a little too bright white. It reminds me of a color blasted picture where the sun is way to bright for the film. Perhaps the artist was going for a porcelain figurine. With that tiny waist, she was probably wearing one of those waist constricting corsets that were so popular back then. Beautiful gown and wrap. I think the wrap really sets it off with the gold lining.
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Oh, yes. What a tiny waist. Frybabe, I wonder if the original painting is so bright or if it's just the photo on that web site.
Babi, It looks like Charles is attracting some jealousy for his easy movements into many salons.
I think that Charles is growing on de Waal, although he still seems a bit wary of him, likely based on de Waal's first impressions of a youth trying to make a statement without much subtlety. We see Charles growing in patience as he tries to capture in his writings an original, in depth view of the art he sees. It seems to me that de Waal is identifying with Charles and testing Charles against his own relationship to art.
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Yes, that tiny waist, Fry! Do you really think she's wearing something to pull it all in - or did she instruct the artist to make it appear so tiny? The woman has just had her 5th child...(and named him Charles!) You have to wonder what her husband thought of her "affair" - even appearing in public with Charles. I'm thinking that her husband was having an affair of his own -OR he regarded Charles as a "mahout" guiding his wife through the art world, as she spent his money furnishing their home...
Our author seems to believe Charles was really in love with her. I'm wondering on what he based his conclusion? Charles also spent a lot of time with Napoleon's niece, the Princesse Mathilde. Did anyone suspect a romance with her? Marcie, Goncourt was quite jealous of the attention and high regard she held Charles. He seems to be having such a good time, he doesn't seem to notice. At least that's how it appears to me...
Babi...I scanned another painting of Louise...one de Waal included in the Illustrated edition of the book. Louise had the painting commissioned by the artist, Carolus-Duran.(?) It must be important - it hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris today.
(http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/550/e7/09/2a/e7092aecea9c9b7f9ba2e6536477da53.jpg)
Louise Cahen d'Anvers by Carolus-Duran 1870s
Musee d'Orsay, Paris
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Maybe the tiny waist is why she looks so cold in the first picture. In the second, she looks more removed from her surroundings. Hard, somehow, to imagine her in a mad, passionate love affair. But that may not be what Charles wanted. Especially if he was gay, as hinted.
We see at the end of the section, the price Charles pays for being Jewish. But he will abandon the netsuke just as his "friends" are abanoning him. So, we will abandon him too, and not find out how he lived out the last decade of his life?
It's sobering to seee some of the worst side of artists one admires.
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She appears, in both pictures, to my mind a self possessed individual who is very much in command of her surroundings. The second painting is more relaxed and slightly sensual.
I've finished this section. It is beginning to get a little disturbing. The Dreyfus Affair is in the news and stirs up anti-semitic sentiments. BTW, I have a book on this event which is still in my TBR like so many others.
I am thrilled about reading that Charles was able to rub elbows with so many famous artists and authors. How many of them were actually famous at the time? Because impressionism was a new style of art at the time it was pretty controversial and "modern". Charles seems to have liked the avant-gard paintings and painters of his era (Durer being an exception). I haven't seen much if anything written about wether he collected any paintings of the older traditional artists.
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That is a very good thought, MARCIE. I can see how Edmund might be measuring Charles
against his own deep devotion to his beloved pottery. He would have little sympathy with a
dilettante. I find Charles a more 'diverse' character, however, and I hope Edmund comes to
appreciate him.
The Princess Mathilde was quite elderly, I believe, JOANP, but very much of the social
elite. I don't think his attentions to her were romantic. But he was a perfect young escort
for the lady to various salons she might wish to attend. And she would surely have had
entree anywhere. No wonder Goncourt was jealous.
One thing about specializing in the newest trends in art....there are no pre-set standards. You
don't have generations of critiques and discussion on traditionally 'great' sculpture or painting and
what is not. You see something new, and must rely on your own responses to it.
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Good morning, BaBI...
Yes, I went back and reread some of those pages - mainly those that spoke of Charles' relationship with Louise. I wondered where Edmund got his rather intimate information about their sexual affair. I guess I still wonder - he doesn't come right out and say...
As I reread, I saw this decription of Princesse Mathilde -
"the aged Princess in her black, an elephantine presence, rather like Queen Victoria."
Maybe it was because the Princess was not young and beautiful like Louise...that people didn't talk when they spent time together?
"... Charles was able to rub elbows with so many famous artists and authors. How many of them were actually famous at the time?"
Fry, your question caught me by surprise...I was so taken with reading of Charles' relationships with these famous artists, that I didn't question that they weren't famous yet. Do you have favorite Impressionists? I've always liked Pissarro - and happy to see that Charles did too. These artists were mostly older than Charles, but as you say, they were avant garde - Charles responded to their style and collected them - even commissioned them to paint for him. Renoir, wasn't it? This caused quite a stir among the other artists.
I'm still trying to figure out how Charles' Jewishness became an issue. I really hadn't noted anti-semitism in Paris until the Dreyfus Affair. Certainly it did not seem to affect Charles. I do remember when Charles began to buy other paintings - Moreau's in particular, that Renoir was furious that Charles had bought "Jew art." Did Charles lose interest in the Impressionists in favor of Moreau's symbolism? Edmund writes that Charles' Jewishness now made him "suspect."
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter. His main focus was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. Was Moreau Jewish, or was it the biblical subjects of his paintings? Charles purchased his Jason (http://uploads4.wikipaintings.org/images/gustave-moreau/jason-1865.jpg)
and his Galatea - both handing in the Musee D'Orsay today.
(http://www.musee-orsay.fr/typo3temp/zoom/tmp_6c9612bd3f47f980d71289ca51c24bb3.gif)
Galatea
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I too am having difficulty coming to conclusions about Charles that would agree with Edmund - I see it is a small way that when folks all of a sudden realize they have more money then they thought it puts them in a new frame of mind with new dreams about accumulating on a level that opens their eyes to even more possibilities -
Example - I am working with a young couple now who are selling a house that is all of 1201 square feet and because of location is priced in the high 80 thousand range - they were shocked to learn they can purchase a house up to 200 thousand - they see pool table in a game room and leather furniture in the den and and and - all dreams taken from ads and magazines that they never realized could be their life style - now they are having to learn what pool table manufacturer will be best and what hot tub and how to care for both including the care required of the other bits which they will fill their house - and how to make friends with folks among this new economic community where folks are living wider lives - not necessarily fuller but that they will learn.
And so I can see that growing up with wealth you take it for granted and have no concept what it means to be wealthy - then as a young man iswhen you realize - at least Charles did not willy nilly simply fill his house with the advise of older family members - he educated himself and realized he wanted the best that would represent his families status and his awareness of his wealth - he started to make friends and I bet in this new section of town being Jewish there was not in common the background and schooling of the old Parisian families so the new avant garde would be a perfect meeting ground where his love of art allowed him to pepper his money into the artistic community and make friends having something in common to talk about.
I think the anti semitic view of him would be among the noble Parisian families but simply not mentioned in polite society and could explain his choice of mistress which would be a coup. According to the list of Jewish Nobles there is this about her husband's family - "Cahen d’Anvers, Count (Papal title 1867), of the line of Aaron, for the Antwerp banker Joseph Mayer Cahen, father of Raphael, 2nd Count, father of (1) Irene, m. Baron Etienne Gourgaud de Taillis, (2) Raphaele (1874-1899) m. 1891 Prince Ferdinand de Faucigny-Lucinge; (3) a daughter married Count MoiseNissim de Camondo."
From reading about Salons in several books they were very Democratic with all levels of society present since the focus seemed to be about inquiry while enjoying the surroundings, food and wines but also, the delicacies of a fetching daughter whose beauty was a calling card and kept the Salon from becoming course especially during arguments stemming from different points of view. I can easily see how Charles would find a place for himself and start making inroads to Paris society by frequenting the Salons.
In the beginning of this book Edmund says he does not want to write "some elegiac Mitteleuropa" nor does he want to write another Utz by Bruce Chatwin. Reducing his book to those issues would bring in the over-riding sense of anti - semitic hostilities including more about Odessa being in the Settlement Pale.
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Interesting there is no mention so far of Julian Goncourt - looking up more info on Edmond you learn they were inseparable and wrote all their books and articles together.
From what I read the Dreyfus case split apart families and generations of connections in business as well as among the artists. It seems none of the establishment wanted to say they were wrong and so Dreyfus remained a prisoner for 5 years till Zola had his letter printed in the newspapers. The antisemitism that ran rampant did not pop up out of no where and books have been written how it was the seeds for the Holocaust.
Back to Charles - like any family new to an area with money in order to associate with folks on your economic level you buy in - you donate to the 'right' fund drives and join where you can the 'right' cultural activities till folks will know you and invite you to join the inner circle. Someone with wealth does not want to be lonely and so they must play the game because they do not fit well with folks who have not had the exposure to money and what it can buy - not just things but education and opportunity and taking in what ever strikes your fancy - when others who cannot match you are trying to be a friend they soon feel second place not being able to match the life style of the wealthy friend and either bitterness or distance is the outcome.
As to Edmond de Goncourt - he and his brother wrote as much about the middle class and also their first books and plays were unsuccessful - they came from new money and having a link to Napoleon at this time was mixed - Their father ennobled the family by fighting with 'distinction' under Napoleon, leaving the brothers a comfortable private income. Neither married and the doted on each other - no word what that was all about but they were certainly not as comfortable in their skin as Charles appears to be and probably where comfortable, their wealth was no match for the wealth of the Ephrussi family.
As to the bed - we still see similar beds when magazines have a photo tour of some of the Venetian homes showing the owners still sleeping in these ornate beds dressed in rich fabric with gold threads woven into the cloth.
We learned early that Charles was not ready made to run the family business and during this time in history what does a wealthy man do - I am remembering a movie 'Gigi' showing wealthy men who simply follow the seasons seeing and being seen every night at the 'in' club, dance hall, restaurant etc. - Charles could easily be a Gaston Lachaille played by Louis Jourdan.
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Barbara - an interesting point about the Goncourt Brothers...Where is Jules while his brother is writing his anti-semitic articles? Does Jules feel the same way? I found this about the brothers:
"Not only did they write all their books together, they did not spend more than a day apart in their adult lives, until they were finally parted by Jules's death in 1870."
Had Jules passed away at the time Edmond de Goncourt wrote:
'the salons have become infested with Jews and Jewesses'
. De Waal wrote - "Goncourt is jealous of this charming boy."
Do you think de Goncourt was jealous of the Ephrussi wealth that enabled Charles to move freely in the salons - or was it the fact that he was Jewish? Or both? Was it De Goncourt who finally influenced the Impressionist painters to turn against Charles when Charles showed interested in Jewish painters, like Moreau?
Whatever it was, Charles was ostracized in the end... his interest in the Impressionists and Japanese art is over - for good reason, I think. What did he do with all that art? Storage? Many of these paintings are in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris today. I wonder when they were moved there.
Do you think he thought twice before he packed up the netsuke and the black-lacquered vitrine and sent them to Vienna to cousin Viktor as a wedding present? I thought he had been quite attached to them.
When de Waal won the scholarship and visited his cousin Iggy in Japan, the netsuke collection was there...Did you see the photograph of Iggy in front of a glass-doored vitrine that holds the netsuke -
"...he'd open the sliding doors of the long vitrine that took up most of one wall of the sitting room..."
It is not the black lacquered one with mirrored back and green velvet - the one Charles had sent to Iggy's father.
The story of the missing vitrine will be told - perhaps when we move on to Vienna tomorrow. Are there other things you've observed in Part One that you would like to share with us?
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I actually hate leaving Charles. I want to know more about him. He only lived six more years after he sent the netsuke to Vienna.
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Tomorrow, when we start the Vienna "interlude", don't forget to revisit the gallery of family photos. A number of them are from this period. http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/
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Ah Louis Jordan!!! I always cry when he runs up the steps and asks Gigi for her hand in marriage. ;D
However Charles wasn't a complete wastrel -- he did write about art and subsidized and promoted many young artists.
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No, I don't think Charles was a wastrel either, Kidsal - and he really seemed to love his life and the art he collected. Edmond de Waal unearthed a lot about this relative... more than we know about our great, great, great, gerat uncles, I'll bet. But he didn't know everything.
What he knew he found in Charles' writing, and in news accounts of his art collections and position in society. There's really a lot missing - if only he had written his memoirs, or kept a diary...Was he hurt when he was ostracized by those he thought were his friends. He must have been, don't you think? Or when Louise turned her attention to the handsome young count. There's a lot about Charles that we will never know about. Was he sad to let the netsuke go to Vienna?
I'm looking forward to the Vienna cousin's reaction to this unusual wedding gift.
Fry, that's Uncle Ignace, Uncle Iggy with the huge vitrine with the sliding glass doors...it certainly isn't the black lacquered one. I think we need to keep the link to those pictures in the heading for easy reference. Thanks! We'll meet them in Vienna in Part II.
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We're now following the netsuke to Vienna.
I'm sad to leave Charles with his passion for art and the deliberate, slow, measured way he looked at the art around him and made a place for it in his life. It seems a big contrast to jump to Ringstrasse in Vienna. What do you think of de Waal's reaction to this new environment?
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Yes, I know, JoanP. I was talking about the other photos, below. Some of them I am now finding as I read are in the book.
As I read into the Vienna section, I found that Emmy considered Gustav Mahler "a racket". I am not a Mahler fan either. Emmy would have seen Mahler conducting the Vienna Court Opera, a position Mahler secured partly by converting from Judaism to Catholicism in the growing anti-semitic atmosphere. There is no indication so far that the Ephrussis knew Mahler personally.
Emmy's family, the Sheys, had a family estate in what is now Slovakia. I tried to find where exactly the estate was, but no luck so far. The postcard shown in the above link shows an address, but I can't really link it with anything yet. Niytra County (megye) doesn't seem to border the Vah as far as I can tell, and there does not appear to be a Kovecses in that area. The Vah is a main tributary into the Danube. Nitra is not only a county name, but another tributary as well as a town. BTW, a puszta is a treeless plain or farmland. Kovecses may have been the name of the farm estate rather that a place name.
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The competition among artists dependent upon patrons must be fierce. De Goncourt could very
well have seized upon Moreau's being a Jew as an acceptable reason to use against his entry
into the ring of competition. I would not have thought the man was influential enough to turn
people against Charles, tho'. It may have been the bad timing...ie., the Zola affair raising
people's emotions during the same period.
One note before leaving Paris. The reference to the 'Russian trappings' on Charles horse
caught my attention. I went hunting (of course). The closest thing I could find was this.
Here is a set of 'Hunnish' horse trappings, but the origin is given as southeast Russia.
http://art.thewalters.org/detail/77447/set-of-horse-trappings/
On to Vienna! I knew the Hapsburg Empire was large, but I had no idea how really huge and diverse it was. "Magyars, Croats, Poles, Czechs, Jews from Galicia and Trieste, all the twelve nationalities, the six official languages, the five religions.' There were bound to be conflicts among such a mixed assortment of peoples.
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Babi, I was under the impression that they used a two horse carriage, rather than three, but the harnessing may have been similar to the traditional Russian troika.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troika_%28driving%29
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I keep staring at the "trappings" picture in the link...may have to take a quick trip to the Walter's Museum in Baltimore to get a closer link. To me, it looks as if the thing is studded with amber. I love amber. Since the Hare of the title has little amber eyes, I think it would be worth finding out a bit more about it.
Fry, were you able to learn if Kovecses was the name of a place in Vienna or the name of the Emmy's famly's country estate? It sure was a convenient refuge for the family when needed.
Babi...the Emperor was a wise man...as long as he was in power, he was lenient to all of the nationalities and religions within the Empire and this seemed to keep the peace. They all seemed to blend into one another..."There were rumors that the Jews had tricked the Gentile neighbors and disappeared into the fabric of the Ringstrasse." Did you notice that the Ephrussi Palais in Vienna was not gold - but pink?
Reading the descriptions of Viktor and Emmy's wedding gifts, I was really anxious to learn how Charles' gift was received...expecially by the young 18 year old bride.... I was even more surprised to learn where she decided to keep it. Had de Waal's grandmother, Elizabeth, not kept her 12 pages of memoirs, he'd never have learned about that. Unless of course young Iggy remembered and passed the information down to Charles...
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Not completely JoanP. Kovecses is a family name and there is a town by that name but out way out of the designated area. The estate/farm bordered on the Vah River. They would have used the bridge at Bratislava to cross the Danube. The current (which may not be the same as then) Nitra County (region crosses over the dam. The estate could be on either side, but at or below the dam. I wish he had included some local town/village names. Maybe he will later, but so far that is as close as I can get.
Agriculture is still a very big part of the area.
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I love hearing that the children played with the netsuke. I can imagine all sorts of games. They liked the pile of wood, too.
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JoanP, I love amber too. I wasn't sure if it qualified as a "gemstone" but I looked it up and, apparently, it is a gemstone.
Your quote "There were rumors that the Jews had tricked the Gentile neighbors and disappeared into the fabric of the Ringstrasse." That is what was held against them. If they had worn their ethnic costumes and acted more "Jewish" would they really have been accepted more?
It's interesting that the Japanese, in the previous section of the book, tried to blend in too. They were given away by their "too tailored" European clothing.
JoanK, I wish that I could play with a netsuke too. There are some available on ebay at http://www.ebay.com/sch/Netsuke-/37938/i.html. I wonder what makes something a netsuke rather than a small Japanese figurine?
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Emmy is an interesting person. She is "animated" and draws people into her. She seems so different from Charles and Victor. How does the life Emmy and her family had in Kovecses (in the house that was "a large square box such as children draw") differ from de Waal's view of "Vienna as a crucible of the twentieth century" motif?
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It seems several of us love amber. I have always preferred the colorful gem stones to the
diamonds, but I assume I am in the minority on that. Diamonds seem to be a passion everywhere.
Just guessing, MARCIE, but I would suppose that the tiny holes to permit fastening to a belt
would make a figurine and netsuke.
I sometimes think de Waal is giving us a great deal of information that is not really relevant
to the tracking of the netsuke. Do we really need to know who the major architect of the new Vienna
was, and all that he built?
What did you think of the description of Emilie? Not only is she 'pretty judgmental', she was Sounds intimidating, doesn't it?"known in the family as 'the crocodile', with a most engaging smile--whenever she smiled."
Vienna, though beautiful, as was Paris, does seem to have a different atmosphere. I noticed
that de Waal speaks of the "scandal sheets that proliferated in Vienna", and thought what a
contrast that was to the arts and fashion 'Gazette' so popular in Paris. (Though I don't doubt
Paris society had their sources for scandal, as well.)
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Some interesting stuff about Amber:
Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times
The presence of insects in amber was noticed by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, and led him to theorize correctly that, at some point, amber had to be in a liquid state to cover the bodies of insects
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Amber2.jpg/220px-Amber2.jpg) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Amber.pendants.800pix.050203.jpg)
Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects
In ancient times, well-established trade routes for amber originated from the Baltic countries (where amber was plentiful along the coast) that went to virtually every corner of Europe. Early in the nineteenth century, the first reports of amber from North America came from discoveries in New Jersey along Crosswicks Creek near Trenton, at Camden, and near Woodbury.
Japanese Amber (http://www.amber.com.pl/en/resources/raw-amber/item/412-japanese-amber [color=purple)
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I agree, Emmy, de Waal's great grandmother steps into every one of these Vienna chapters, from the time of her wedding to 1938, he seems to focus our attention on her. She even becomes the keeper of the netsuke collection. It seems that Viktor has forgotten all about his cousin's wedding gift. Out of sight... Maybe we'll hear more about it in Part III, but it right now, his interest is elsewhere.
"I sometimes think de Waal is giving us a great deal of information that is not really relevant to the tracking of the netsuke."
Babi...I'll agree, but I also think he is implying much without coming out and saying things. About Emmy for example. It's difficult for me to say this - because this is NOT fiction we are reading, and this is the author, who's great grandmother we are reading about. But I had these thoughts - twice - about Viktor and his two sons. Emmy has a number of lovers, de Waal tells us this. Each time the lovers are described, and then Iggy is born...and later Rudolf. Is de Waal questionning the paternity of these boys? I do remember a comment about Iggy's Ephrussi nose...but handsome blond blue-eyed Rudolf?
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It is actually just as interesting to read all your comments, as to read the book itself. You are like professional genealogists. Is it the female touch? I was a bit surprised of the comment about the beautiful miss d'Anvers. I see a goodlooking woman and you see something else. Talk about that men are easily confused by female beauty than woman, with their sharper eyes.
I was captured of a time that changed Europe and ended so tragically.
There is an aura of refinement, an optimism of a bright new world during the years from 1870 to its break down in the muddy trenches of WW1.
Europe was flourishing; the world was a playground for the well-situated, and that gave such great results in architecture, paintings and the world was a good place to live in. It is still a period for the European art that we long for. Nostalgia, in spite of knowing that it also nourished the working classes hatred to wealthy people and the injustice they had to endure. But to live in that period, with a bottomless goldmine, spending his idle days only to enjoy himself, buy whatever he liked, and mingle with nobility's and businessmen. Who cannot elude to envy a man, living in that time?
And yet he is taken good care of his inheritance, for the benefit of his survivors and for us in the year of 2013. He isn't a Bertie Wooster. On the contrary he is an educated and well behaved man. Worth all respect.
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
|
For Your Consideration
February 14-18
Part Three ~ Vienna 1938-1947
24. 'An ideal spot For mass marches'
Who made the above comment? Why didn't the Ephrussi family leave Vienna when their friends and fellow Jews left? Who was the angry mob that broke into the Palais? Why were they hostile to the Jews?
25. 'A never-to-be-repeated opportunity'
What was the official reason for targeting the Jews in Vienna as enemies of Germany? What kept Viktor and Rudolf from being sent to Dachau?
"Jews matter less than what they once possessed." Do you agree with de Waal's observaion? What became of all the Ephrussi "stuff"?
26. 'Good for a single journey'
How did daughter Elizabeth manage to get Viktor and Emmy out of Vienna, past Eichmann's Office for Jewish Emigration? What would have become of them without her help?
27. The tears of things
Like Aeneas, Viktor weeps for all he has lost. Do you think he found any happiness at the end? Why did Elizabeth return to Vienna in 1945? What are some of the things she found in her 'emptied' home?
28. Anna's pocket
The Palais, "a place to hide where you have come from. A place to hide things in."
Why should the netsuke have gone through the war in a hiding place when people did not? What did Anna intend to do with the netsuke hidden in her mattress?
29. 'All quite openly, publicly and legally'
"It was a family that could not put itself back together." How did the Ephrussi family cope in the post war years?
How did the new Austrian Republic handle the restitution of confiscated property six years later? Amnesty to Nazi Party and Gestapo? What does this mean?
Related Links: link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
Ephrussi family photos (http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/)
Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8wqJINrGj0)
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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rah rah Ollie - yes, and we keep searching for that refinement and responsibility for the future that seems to be a European trait.
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JoanP, I like those amber pieces with the fossils in them. I have some pieces of amber and silver jewelry that is part of my Latvian heritage from my mother and aunt. I love amber in a silver setting that has folklore symbolism.
de Waal does provide a lot of detail. I admit to getting a bit overwhelmed by some of the historical events (I think because I have such a poor understanding of history) but I think he is trying to provide a full setting for the netsuke and wants to answer questions such as: What was life like for those who owned the netsuke. What was his family's reaction to the big events of their time? What other art forms were contemporary with the netsuke collection?
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Olle, "refinement" is a great word. There seems to be a contrast between the playful, straightforward-yet-complex netsuke and the refinement (or lack of it) in the world of Paris and Vienna.
LOL, Babi re the "crocodile smile." What a rich image!
JoanP, I'm so glad you brought up the paternity question. I was thinking the same thing. Emmy gives birth 9 months after her wedding. She married Victor although she did not love him. Then the 5th child is born while Emmy and Victor are increasingly distant from one another and fight when they are at home. Hmmmm....
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Gorgeous, isn't it. I once hoped to find a piece of amber jewelry for my own, but by
then it was growing more scarce and much more expensive. Now, about the only jewelry
I can wear that won't fall off are necklaces and pins.
So true, OLLE. Art has always flourished in times of prosperity. When the economy is
poor, people are much more cautious and reserve their funds for the necessary things.
Also true, that in the presence of feminine beauty, men do tend to focus on that and
fail to see clues to a less than benign personality. (I said that tactfully, don't you
think? ;) )
Can anyone define 'cod classicism' for me? I can't see, in deWaal's description of a 'swaggering cavalcade', that the reference is to fish. ??? I am more inclined to believe it is related to the codpiece needed in the days of tights or hose in men's fashions.
My, doesn't Baron Ignace von Ephrussi have an impressive list of titles? According to our author, "splendidly Ruritarian". My dictionary gave me 'Ruritanian" which has got to be the same. "Ruritanian - characteristic of an imaginary Central European country used as a setting for adventure stories of romance and intrigue; esp. contemporary cloak-and-dagger court intrigue." Most
appropriate, don't you think.
Then, bad news for the Ephrussi's and their friends. Vienna has a new mayor who cheerfully declares, "Jew baiting is an excellent means of propaganda and getting ahead in politics." Yes, indeed. Hitler found it most useful; the czars did as well. Whenever the people are getting rebellious under your rule, find a minority target for their anger. Very efficient.
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If I remember the book correctly, Babi, the mayor you quoted then says that he gets to say who is a Jew. As a "politician" he tries to have it both ways.
What do you all think of life for wealthy children in those times? It seems that Emmy only spent time with her children for a couple of hours each day while getting dressed for the evening and on Sunday mornings. (On Downton Abbey yesterday Maggie Smith's character admited that she only spent time with her children for an hour a day when they were young.) I was interested to see that Emmy read fairytales to her children and made up stories for them. They also received the latest Andrew Lang fairytale collection each year.
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I guess nineteenth and twentieth century wealthy moms have a lot in common with twentieth and twenty-first century working moms.
Fabulous photos of Amber - it always seemed strange to me that something so slow moving would be able to capture a living bug in its wake - I would think they would have flown away but I guess the sticky substance on their feet must have trapped them.
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You can sense Edmond's struggle to understand his Viennese ancestors..."he just doesn't understand what it means to be part of an assimilated acculturated Jewish family."
Edmond reads 17 of Joseph Roth's novels...in which the dislike of the Ephrussi family keeps showing up...
He learns that in Vienna, if you looked Jewish, you were snubbed. Anti-Semitism here is diffrent from Parisian anti-Semitism.
There are so many threats to Jews at this time. Edmond finds they are so perfectly assimilated, they've disappeared - to avoid these threats? Does that explain how Emmy is able to participate fully in Viennese society? Because she doesn't LOOK Jewish or participate in Jewish activities?
"Viennese Jews don't go to synagogue, but births, marriages, deaths are recorded in the Rabbinate."
They donate to Jewish Charities, but that seems to be the extent of their Jewish activities.
The University across the way is becoming more of a hotbed of student unrest and demonstrations, which the children watched from their "fortress."
You have to wonder what these three children did all day. We're told they were tutored at home, but did they ever go out? Maybe that's why Emmy took them on regular visits to her family's country home in Kovences. No wonder it was referred to as "Liberty Hall."
It was her memoirs, those 12 pages young Elizabeth Ephrussi kept on daily life in the Palais, that opened the door to Edmond. She pretty much diagrammed the location of the netsuke collection. Don't you wonder why Emmy decided to put the collection in her dressing room area? Did she like them, or did she not want visitors to see them? Luckily they were stored in a place where the children could play with them and appreciate them. I like to think that it was the netsuke that provided the mother one of her only real opportunities to play with her children.
How precious those memoirs turned out to be.. I find it difficult to understand how Elizabeth was so easily into the University across the street...at this time. I wish she had continued to write of her experiences there.
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Babi, Marcie and all Just a little confession. It seems that my main interest is about the men. But no, it's not. I am fascinated of deWaal’s almost caressing diction. It is poetic, melodic and with a Parisian fragrance. You just must love it. For young Charles, life is wonderful; the world's full of promises and in the midst of all, Charles lives and love, drinking the life-giving atmosphere. And he does make a career, and lives "la vie en rose"!
Everything seems to be so easy, when deWaal writes about it. His characteristic of Paris streets gives the atmosphere we know from the impressionist's paintings and from walking in that part of the town:
“The streets of Paris have a calmness to them: clean stone façades, rhythmic detailing of balconies, newly planted lime trees appear in his (Caillebotte’s) painting Jeune homme à sa fenêtre, shown in the second Impressionists exhibition in 1876 . . .
Everything is possible. It could have been young Charles.”
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He gives also an interesting and revealing portrait of deGouncourt, still mentioned with high respect. But you can sense the anti-Jewish feelings, slowly grow underneath the polished surface.
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Well, I finished the book and turned it in to the library. Sad parting.
Speaking of sad. It must have been very difficult for de Waal emotionally to research and write about what was happening to his family and the Jewish community in Vienna. While he did a good job for the reader of minimizing his pain and outrage at reading about how badly Jews and specifically his family were treated, I could still feel the pain. It is beyond me how anyone can treat others so badly. I also learned how quickly people can turn on you with very little or no provocation, and how quickly family life and possessions are destroyed by people who you considered friends and colleagues.
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JoanP, de Waal speculates about why Emmy put the netsuke in her dressing room. I think he gives her the benefit of the doubt in thinking that it might have been for the sake of the children and of storytelling.
Olle, de Waal's writing is captivating.
I found an article that indicates that his first draft of eight chapters was awful. It says:
"When he came to write it all up, though, it sounded a little like something from a university cultural-studies programme. “It was ‘can I provide a really accurate bit of cultural history about where things have been and if things had been, and make it communicable to other people?’ That was my way of protecting myself. And then, of course, it all fell apart.”
He wrote eight chapters and found he could not go on. “They were written in this slightly arch, rather professional, detached way, a bit wry, a bit knowing. And completely removed from what was going on. It was just phoney. I read it and it was completely phoney. It was just a construct…You’re a writer for goodness sake. You know when it doesn’t ring true at all. I hated writing it. I was absolutely hating writing it.”
So he began again. He took inspiration from Vasily Grossman, who had written one of the greatest novels of the second world war, “Life and Fate”. Like Joseph Conrad and the Ephrussis, Grossman came originally from Berdichev in the Pale of Settlement. His own family story there had taught him that “we can survive anything if we have stories to tell.” Drawing both on the exacting nature of the netsuke themselves and the muddled human experience of those who had owned them, de Waal set off afresh on his polemic against nostalgia and melancholy. “Part of the complexity was to navigate my way between the stuff and the story, because there’s the stuff and there’s the story, and sometimes they match each other and sometimes they don’t.” "
It's a very long, informative article: http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/fiammetta-rocco/edmund-de-waal?page=full
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Frybabe, I haven't finished the book yet. I anticipate a sad parting too.
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That is so interesting, Marcie. That information should be of great interest to Olle, who is impressed with his easy writing style, his "caressing diction." Olle, I agree, the Parisian men are suave and admirable. Will be interested to hear what you think of the Vienna men. I don't think de Waal was too impressed with Vienna - and these were his people! He doesn't think his little netsuke can be comfortable in their new environment - until he locates them in Emmy's dressing room - amusing playthings for Emmy and her children.
Marcie, my impression- the very young bride, confronted with the responsibility of deciding where to place all those fantastic wedding gifts...really didn't understand what the netsuke were about - or that they were valuable. They didn't fit in with the Palais decor, so she had it placed out of sight - in her dressing room. Who knows, maybe they amused her. It turned out to be a fortuitous decision by the time her children came along several years later...She was able to relate to her children with imaginary play through these little pieces. Do you think she would have done so without them?
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JoanP, you say "my impression- the very young bride, confronted with the responsibility of deciding where to place all those fantastic wedding gifts...really didn't understand what the netsuke were about - or that they were valuable. They didn't fit in with the Palais decor, so she had it placed out of sight - in her dressing room. Who knows, maybe they amused her."
I think that assessment is right on, Joan.
Emmy read fairytales to her children and let them dress up. I do think she was a storyteller and would have been without the netsuke....but what fantastic props!
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I also thought they were hidden away because they didn't know what to do with them and it would have been impolite to get rid of them. It turned out well though, because it gave the children extra time with their mom that they may not have had otherwise. I am sure they looked forward to playing with the netsuke and hearing the stories. There aren't many children who wouldn't enjoy that, at least when they are smaller.
Later on, there is something else de Waal noted about the play time in one of the later sections, something that one of the children commented about it. I go no further lest I spoil it. Just keep an eye out for it.
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De Waal introduces us to so many facets of the arts of the time, I can't help being curious about them. Reading De Waal's irreverent remark about the statue of Goethe looking "extremely cross", I naturally had to see it. I agree.http://wikimapia.org/2012833/Goethe-Monument
I've never heard of a 'secession' pattern before, and was not at all sure what, in the card, was an example of it. I quickly found that 'secession' was the word used in Vienna for the new Art Nouveau style. This link gave me a better idea of what the 'secession' pattern was like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfons_Mucha_-_1894_-_Gismonda.jpg
It's a pity out author didn't give us the title of the book by Jakob Wassermann that used Pip as it's protagonist. Amazon had a lot of them, but only as e-books (free), and only a couple in English. The rest are in the original German. If any of you are fluent in German, maybe you could see if you can identify the book and tell us about it. (Well, maybe not. It might be awful, of course.)
Charcoal biscuit, anyone? Oh, yes, with actual charcoal, food quality, of course. Excellent for digestive problems. (Enough said about that. :P)
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Babi, de Waal uses many terms and references that I have to look up (or should look up!) Thanks for the links.
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I remember keeping a container of activated charcoal around the house early in my homemaker career.
Thanks for the links Babi. I missed the extremely crossed Goethe. I don't remember ever hearing about a secessionist art movement either.
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the List of Books available on Gutenburg
Caspar Hauser oder Die Trägheit des Herzens (German) (as Author)
Deutsche Charaktere und Begebenheiten (German) (as Author)
Engelhart Ratgeber (German) (as Author)
Der goldene Spiegel - Erzählungen in einem Rahmen (German) (as Author)
The Goose Man (English) (as Author)
Imaginäre Brücken - Studien und Aufsätze (German) (as Author)
Der Mann von vierzig Jahren (German) (as Author)
Mein Weg als Deutscher und Jude (German) (as Author)
Melusine - Ein Liebesroman (German) (as Author)
Der Moloch (German) (as Author)
Der niegeküßte Mund - Drei Erzählungen (German) (as Author)
Olivia oder Die unsichtbare Lampe (German) (as Author)
Die Prinzessin Girnara - Weltspiel und Legende (German) (as Author)
Die Schaffnerin, Die Mächtigen - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Schläfst du Mutter?, Ruth - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Die Schwestern Drei Novellen (German) (as Author)
Die ungleichen Schalen Fünf einaktige Dramen (German) (as Author)
Der Wendekreis - Erste Folge - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Der Wendekreis - Zweite Folge Oberlins drei Stufen, Sturreganz (German) (as Author)
Ran it through Bing and the titles in the same order in English
Caspar Hauser or the inertia of the heart (English) (as author)
German characters and stories (English) (as author)
Edwards Guide (German) (as author)
The Golden mirror - Stories in a frame (English) (as author)
The goose man (English) (as author)
Imaginary bridges - Studies and essays (English) (as author)
The man of forty years (English) (as author)
My journey as a German and Jew (English) (as author)
Melusine - A romance (English) (as author)
The juggernaut (English) (as author)
The niegeküßte mouth - Three tales (English) (as author)
Olivia or the invisible lamp (English) (as author)
The Princess Girnara World game, and legend (English) (as author)
The worker, the mighty Short stories (English) (as author)
Are you sleeping mother?, Ruth - Short stories (English) (as author)
The sisters - Three novels (English) (as author)
The uneven shells - Five one-act plays (English) (as author)
The turning circle - first episode - Short stories (English) (as author)
The turning circle - second sequence - Three levels of Oberlin, stubborn re full (English) (as author)
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This is really two stories, isn't it...de Waal's search for the background of the fascinating netsuke collection now in his possession - but really, his geneological investigation to learn more of his family, his roots. I love the methodical way he goes about getting to know his great grandparents, using every source he can find. The image of him - walking around in the Palais, trying to imagine the netsuke here...even carrying one in his pocket as he goes. But he goes back to London and does research, before deciding he has more research to do in Vienna.
Did you notice where he says he's read 17 of Joseph Roth's novels? I just had to look him up - Joseph Roth's novels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Roth)
"Born to a Jewish family, Roth grew up in Brody, a small town near Lemberg in East Galicia, part of the easternmost reaches of what was then Austro-Hungarian empire. Jewish culture played an important role in the life of the town, which had one of the biggest Jewish populations in Europe.
He often portrayed the fate of homeless wanderers looking for a place to live, in particular Jews and former citizens of the old Austria-Hungary, who, with the downfall of the monarchy, had lost their only possible Heimat ("true home")."
Viktor Ephrussi turns up in several of his novels - fiction. De Waal writes, "During the years of travelling and researching, recalling conversations and attempting to replace memories with actual rooms and streets, this slippage between what was “real” and what was in fiction became one of the greatest complexities for me. For the family turned up in the novels of Joseph Roth and the stories of Isaac Babel."
At first I thought that this was the only way Edmond would get to know his great grandfather... but maybe his grandmother, Elizabeth has had something to tell him...or her brother, Iggy...
Doesn't Iggy have stories to tell? His flight from the house of Ephrussi reads like fiction, doesn't it? Did you see that coming?
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Poor Iggy was made to study finances though he had no apptitude or interest in it. Then he was made to sit in a bank. I'm glad he had the courage to run away and start over in a career that he loved in fashion design, though it sounds like he had a lot of work to do, learning from the ground up.
It's good that his family sent him a small allowance (no questions asked).
Elizabeth was able to pursue her academic dreams too and also find a sensitive husband (who unfortunately wasn't better at dealing with money than her father was). It's amazing that she had a correspondence with Rilke. She was both a lawyer and a poet.
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JoanP, thank you for finding that information about Joseph Roth. De Waal has such a literary family. Many were either writers or the subject of other authors.
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It sure helps when you are trying to piece together your family history - to have a paper trail from a family of writers. Not speaking from personal experience... :D
I didn't think Iggy had it in him to leave and strike out on his own...
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Thanks for the link to Joseph Roth. I am going to have to find some of his novels to download. The only Radetzky March I know is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAZbMjuM3dI Enjoy.
I also looked up Isaac Babel. He was also born in Russian and stayed there. He was executed in 1940, accused of being a foreign spy and a Trotskyite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaak_Babel He lived in Odessa for a while, married there in fact, and wrote Tales of Odessa which probably included a likeness of the Efrussi family in it somewhere.
Okay, since I took the book back, I have a question. Did the book name the design houses Iggy worked for? I'd like to see if I can find some fashion links. All I can find so far refer to the book.
Elizabeth must have been remarkably bright and brave to have gone to university and graduating during that time when the situation was deteriorating so much for the Jewish population.
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Fry, Iggy went by the name I. Leo Ephrussi when in America. There was an invitation to a showing of his Paris and New York Lines of Smart Accessories at Studio Huldschinsky in Hollywood, CA
Happy Hunting! :D.
ps look here too- in the last paragraph:
http://books.google.com/books?id=dQAJeZoc_f8C&pg=PT108&lpg=PT108&dq=I.+Leo+Ephrussi&source=bl&ots=jOrKNt33aJ&sig=kZzxzgIqs95U-cGcgfeLuilLdqY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6QkbUY7QDIek8ATFtIHICQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA
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I quick Google got me nowhere. The only Huldschinsky that came up was in association with some rather odd design pages for aya Huldschinsky accessories. Almost all were associated with an Interior Design outfit called Aletier AM. Nothing at all for Dorothy Coutaeur Inc. except for the reference back to our book. Sorry folks. I was hoping to find some pix of designs sold by these outfits back then.
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Frybabe, I can't believe that the internet has nothing on Iggy's designs. I looked too and couldn't find anything.
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nice write up about the book - the family - with some wonderful photos of the house in Paris and more about the Musée Nissim de Camondo - including interior shots and a shot of the gardens - seems because the family bequeathed it to the city everything remained intact through both wars as compared to Ephrussi family and other houses and family experiences on the Street.
http://parisianfields.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/the-collectors/
backwards I know but more about Charles
http://www.svreeland.com/lbp-models.html
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True, JOANP. And see how much easier it is to find family background when they are
prominent, wealthy, important people. They were much noticed, and also included diarists
and record keepers. No researcher could ask for more.
the more I read of the Jews of Vienna, the more I wonder that they were able to feel so secure and settled. They had been there for generations, had been generous to the city, and had the power that wealth brings. But there were still all those small cues, the little snubs from the nobility that plainly said, 'You're not one of us'. But when things have gone smoothly for so long, people do tend to take for granted that life will go on as it had.
Another thirty years ir so and prosperous German Jews, considering themselves truly German citizens, felt confident that the rising tide of anti-semitism could not affect them. How could they forget so soon?
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I don't think I'll ever look at Renoir's painting, Charles in his top hat, without thinking of the Ephrussi family tragedy, Barb. That painting is just across the river in the Phillips' collection in DC. Whenever we have visitors who wish to see the city, that's one of the not to be missed museum's we visit. The Hare with the Amber Eyes and Charles will be part of the tour...
Babi...as long as the family had their home, their Palais, they felt safe. Inconceivable what was to follow. It was sad seeing Viktor cooped up, not even going to the bank anymore - waiting to see what would happen next. When the fortress walls were breeched, I thought it was over for the family.
I was surprised to see that Elizabeth was able to attend the university across the strasse...knowing that anti-semitism was brewing there. Was it anti-semitism, or was it resentment of the rich. Whatever it was, Elizabeth managed to get through, to excel - a female - a Jewish female with that Ephrussi name.
How did she do it?
Vienna has been high on my bucket list of cities to visit. Now I'm having second thoughts. What has become of all the confiscated art work? Haven't read too far ahead yet - maybe we'll learn more before the final chapter. I think I'll go look up something on today's Vienna...
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Me again...I didn't get very far. I found Edmund de Waal standing in front of the Palais, giving a talk - with his family, his sons, and his father in attendance - describing his experience in writing this book and the inheritance of the netsuke. If I can find a transcript of his remarks, I'll include them for those unable to hear him...
As he speaks, he's holding two of the netsuke in his hands...
I don't want to be a spoiler for those of you who haven't finished the book. He speaks of the painful events of 1938 - and then Elizabeth's return visit to her old home in 1945... He really doesn't go too much into her return, but we'll get into those chapters here tomorrow.
Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8wqJINrGj0)
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Barbara, thanks for those links. Those are good photos of the house in Paris.
Joan, you ask "Was it anti-semitism, or was it resentment of the rich?" That's a good point. I couldn't help but think that when the young followers of Hitler broke into Viktor's house and started ransacking it, stealing and breaking things. They stopped short of beating up the family. Viktor remained in Vienna due to his sense of loyalty and his world view. He must have been shocked to the core to see what was happening. He had left his money in the country and invested a lot in was it war bonds? He lost virtually everything.
Thanks for the link to the de Waal video, Joan. He's a great writer but a very hesitant, reluctant speaker. But I do find him charming.
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So frustrating! I had written my post here yesterday morning, ready to post it, when my daughter
appeared ready to start her day's work. I was running late, to say the least. In the haste and fluster to
clear out for her, I lost the post. I would repeat it, if I could remember what I wrote! ::)
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Babi, I'm sorry. That is so frustrating!
I had accidentally jumped into this section with my post yesterday about the break in to Viktor's home. Poor Viktor seems to have had his head in the sand. He didn't want to believe that the country would fall into the hands of Hitler or that it would mean that he would no longer be in a position of power. De Waal travelled to the scene again in order to write this section. He pieces events together from various sources and puts us in the rooms where the rifling through their personal belongings and wreckage takes place. His writing is very effective.
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So sorry Babi...hate to lose a post - even worse not to remember what was in it when you come back at the end of the day!
Viktor's relationships with his children seem just about non-existant, don't they? With Emmy too. The one I marvel at is young Rudolf! Kept expecting him to get in more trouble than he did. He is described as "contrary"...also stayed out until all hours, which must have been asking for trouble in these troubled times. Weren't you blown away - imagining him working...working anywhere - but then picture him in Arkansas! Did de Waal ever meet him after the war - in London perhaps? As it turned out, he was lucky to be far from Vienna.
"Fathers, brothers were arrested." I'm still wondering why Viktor wasn't arrested though.
Marcie, I'm still puzzling about the motiviation for the break-in at the Palais. You're right, Viktor and Emmy were not harmed in any way...while everything was smashed...students shouting against the Jews, "Jewish opulence." "This was the night the Jews were held accountable for all they have done." I'm trying to figure out exactly what they meant by that.
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Kristallnacht was a portend of things to come.The excuse was the assassination of a German diplomat to Paris named Ernst vom Rath by a young Polish Jew. All the articles I see now on the web indicate that it was Nazi troups that did the damage, but about five years ago, I read an article in a Jewish magazine that it was made to look like a spontaneous riot by the citizens. The German government blames the Jews for the damages and made them pay for the damages.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html
"This was the night the Jews were held accountable for all they have done."
At this point I think that meant whatever someone decided they didn't like about the Jewish community or wanted to blame someone other than themselves for their failings. The Jews have been long time easy targets for jealousy, hatred and prejudice.
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I'm still here, but running behind. I'm trying not to read any spoilers....Will try to catch up soon.
Sally
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Hi
Finally returned from the visit to my son and the six day Road Scholar (Elder Hostel) seminar on Art Collectors and their Collections. It was really, really wonderful.
I am so happy to see that the book I suggested has lead to such a lively discussion. I have only started to read your posts and think about what you are saying.
SPECIAL thanks to Joan P for that delightful video starrinng de Waal. Perhaps you have to review it again after you finish the book. I felt that it was a perfect Coda to his saga. A delight to see his family, especially his Father.
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I don't think those rioting students needed any motivation; all they needed was an
excuse to run wild. University age students have always been notorious in times of trouble
for taking violent action...on either side of an issue. I was very interested, tho',
FRYBABE, by the report that the damage was actually done by Nazi troops. Either scenario
is possible.
I find myself wondering why the family didn't stay in Switzerland when WWI broke out. Wasn't Switzerland neutral during the first WW as well as the second? I would think they would be much safer there. But then,
they had so much invested in Vienna, and had lived there for, what?, three generations?
And as usual, the Jewish bankers and financiers are paying enormous sums in loans for support of the war.
It is that generations-old skill and experience in money management that made these Jewish communities so welcome to astute kings and emperors.
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Remember Herodotus and his attempt to learn the reasons men go to war? He thought that once that question was answered, future war could be avoided. I'm trying to remember what he concluded about the strong, power-hungry leader who was able to convince others to follow him blindly, either by threat or bribery.
As we consider Hitler's strength and his ability to destroy so many lives, I shudder. Haven't we learned anything that will check such leaders in the future. I fear we haven't. How did this one man manage to take control of the world? He had to have help, support. In hindsight, who would have supported this mastermind if they had seen into the future?
When Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30th 1933, it was at the head of a coalition government. Germany was a democracy.
How did Germany descend so quickly into becoming a dictatorship?
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
|
For Your Consideration
February 9-13
Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
30. Tankenoko
What were some of the changes that struck you that took place in Japan after the War? What does "tankenoko" refer to?
31. Kodachrome
De Waal used Iggie's photos to describe the houses that hold the netsuke in Japan. How does Iggie's lifestyle compare with his previous life in Europe? How are the netsuke treated?
32. Where did you get them?
How were the Japanese and the netsuke characterized by Americans? Why did netsuke "fall out of fashion" in Japan in the 1950s? How were Iggie's netsuke valued by Mr. Okada of the Tokyo National Museum?
33. The real Japan
How did Iggie and Jiro live in Japan in contrast to tourists seeking "the real Japan"? What do you think of Iggie's two decisions after he returns from visiting Vienna in 1973?
34 On polish
What do we learn in this chapter about the making of netsukes?
Related Links: link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
Ephrussi family photos (http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/)
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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I'm wondering how Viktor Ephrussi could have been so uninformed about what was going on in the world, especially in Vienna. He reads the newspapers every day. His friends were making plans to leave.
Hitler had ordered all Jewish inhabitants of his hometown of Linz arrested and ordered to move to Vienna. Why would he have done this?
Babi wonders why the family hadn't gone to Switzerland - it wasn't as if they had no place to go for safety. Don't you wonder what Emmy thought about staying on? Was it really the bank, and the "stuff" they'd accumulated in the house? Did he believe that his wealth and position in Vienna would protect them? I'm still wondering why he wasn't arrested. Perhaps because the Palais break-in was not official. Fry, it seems to me that this was a mob break-in. The question is - was it students...rioting students looking for any excuse, as Babi suggests - or resentful townspeople. Or maybe both - fanaticized by Hitler's Nazis?
Thanks, Fry for those links on Kristallnicht. Will add only this...
"In Vienna, dozens of synagogues were destroyed, and 12,000 Jewish workshops and 5,000 Jewish shops were ransacked and closed. "Vienna presented an extraordinary spectacle with fires raging all over the city and Jews being hustled along the streets, cursed at and assaulted by crowds of hooligans," the British Consul General in Vienna reported.
Thousands of Jews were arrested, six hundred Viennese Jews were sent to Dachau." http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/exhibitions/rescuers/kristallnacht.html
How on earth did Viktor escape this night?
Welcome home, Jude...sounds like a great trip. The link to Edmund de Waal's speech at the Palais is in the heading...I don't think there are any spoilers there.
There you are, Sally! As you catch up, please be sure to post any nuggets of information that catch your attention. We'd love to hear from you as you and Olle cover our tracks...
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Hitler could not do it alone - he had to have the support of the people - maybe the people did not know his tactics but many of them understood what he was attempting - I think like battered women you do not think what is happening is really pandemic but a temporary explosion and this cannot be happening they show love for what the victim does that assists either the batterer or in this case a nation.
Here is Hitler's blueprint - note when it was written and published
http://www.h-net.org/~german/gtext/kaiserreich/class.html
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The Jewish families were certainly aware of the discrimination. Did they believe their money and position in the community would save them?
Remember often of the Jewish boy I danced with at the Iowa State College dime-dance in the Memorial Union one Friday night in 1950. He told me he was from New York and it was difficult for him to get a job there. I - at 17 years - said why don't you just move? Also when I rented a one-room apartment in Beverly Hills in 1959 and the landlady asked if I were Jewish. I am ashamed to say that I didn't tell her off and leave but I wanted the apartment.
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I wish I could answer that, JOANP. Surely some books have been written that
at least attempt to explain how and why.
BARB, that was a frightening 'blueprint'. I can see why it could have appealed
to the 'educated' and 'propertied'. And I suspect the average working citizen
would not have read it. Hitler's initial actions did improve the country's
efficiency...like the famed railroads that ran on time...so they would have felt
they had an excellent new leader.
The Jews money, their valuable treasures, did at least deliver soome of them.
That was the price for not being sent to Dachau. Their property and a huge sum
of money.
It is the most painful irony. Why do conquering rulers so often try to put a pretty veneer
on their conquest. They claim to have 'liberated' the people they are despoiling. "..with deep emotion in this festive hour that Austria is free, that Austria is National Socialist".
It's all so sad.
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"Let us be clear in the discussion of these necessities that the innocent must suffer along with the guilty...."
- from Heinrich Class's, "If I Were Kaiser" (1912) in the link Barbara posted yesterday.
Hitler was twenty three years old when he read Class's manifesto... I am always looking for insight into this man's mind regarding the innocence of his victims.
"Hitler's supremacist and racially motivated policies resulted in the systematic murder of eleven million people, including an estimated six million Jews, and in the deaths of an estimated 50 million people during World War II."
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Good morning, kidsal and Babi too. We're posting at the same time this morning...
I was interested in your comment - that this manifesto could have appeal for the 'educated' and 'propertied' - and since Viktor Ephrussi was both, and an avid reader, I wonder if he hadn't read it too?
Kidsal - couldn't help but notice that you attended the dime-dance in 1950 and that your dance partner was finding it difficult to find a job in NY - because he was Jewish? Makes you wonder what it will take to end discrimination.
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The first break-in must have been simply mobs wishing to destroy, not even steal. But the Gestapo came back to search, not to steal, or even take note of the contents of the Palais... They were looking for evidence that would implicate Viktor. Apparently they found what they were looking for - because they had enough to arrest him. Do you think it was a bit odd that de Waal never asked either Viktor or Rudolf about that? Was that the "missed opportunity", referred to in the chapter's title?
I can think of so many things that I wished I had asked my grandmother - and my father, while they were living. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with the thought that there is no one left who can answer those questions...
When they took Viktor and Rudolf into custody, I think of poor Emmy alone in that big house...does she communicate with her daughters - with Iggy during this time?
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I think everytime we question why this family and other Jewish families did not act differently to protect themselves or their art, jewels and wealth we are really saying they were either naive for trusting or stupid given the history of Jews, or they helped bring this on themselves they should have seen the road signs. Which is the language that says they were complicit in their own demise.
Sorry that hits all sorts of buttons for me - I had a husband who ended up taking everything of real value - money and retirement was nothing in comparison to my daughter's trust, her view of me because of his lies and horrendous actions that has taken us 25 years to repair - I cannot even describe as I struggled with why could I not see what was going on even though this was part of my childhood -
I Know when you have a relationship that you are given to believe you are aiding the goals of the other party it never occurs to you that they would turn on you - how could you stay if this Jewish family could even imagine behind their back, in secret, the plan is to take everything, both earthly and the life of your family - if you suspect then you flee - but often, as in my small case in comparison, it never crosses your mind that anyone could be that devious especially, after you helped them and you could see all around you the benefits you created -
I guess I do not have words to describe the betrayal that sucks the life blood and to hear words that suggest others still do not get it reminds me again of loosing my job and most of my friends and learning more and more secrets that even others knew and that because others knew the fool you feel because society is I think frightened that this could happen to them so they become content making you the scapegoat and because of the importance in the community of the one doing all this damage they, like Hitler were, and for some still, hailed as having worth.
I know that is the hardest part to realize no one is 100% evil and so there is part of them that is always knee jerk acknowledged - and then the guilt sets in that again, we blame ourselves and all victims get blamed again
because we have not been trained nor have we learned how to live with that ambiguity. And that to me is the message - somehow to learn how to live with ambiguity because the very ones that do so much damage to others also in some way contributed to your life -
For me the idea of hating what happened and the atom bomb it threw into my family and my future was enough to deal with - yes, church, therapists, some friends and even some family keep talking forgiveness - get on with it - forget - but when you cannot even wrap your head around the so called crime - when it is so beyond anything you can understand - all I could do is let God do the forgiving and go my way trying to repair and learn.
I am not sure how the Jewish people especially those immediately affected by the Holocaust handle it and go on but some things are beyond rage - we learn rage expressed does not help - for me it was easier to get angry over those who blamed me or acted by pulling away or if I see others who do not try to learn and understand the many wounds and un-expected ways wounds bleed. I wonder if that is what the Jewish people do - rage at those who are only in the preifery representing their fears and experience.
I know - I do go on - but what appears to be a rant is really like being age 5 and begging - please see the victim acted in good faith.
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Gosh, Barb, I am almost speechless. I am profoundly sad that you have still to deal with what happened 25 years ago. Mega HUGS!
As a partial illustration of your comment, "And that to me is the message - somehow to learn how to live with ambiguity because the very ones that do so much damage to others also in some way contributed to your life", I saw this morning the controversy over a museum display of Herod the Great. Mostly, the controversy is because the excavations are on the West Bank which the Palestinians claim should be given back to them. However, the display itself is meant to show both sides of Herod which is also a bit controversial.
He's best known as a great tyrant. King Herod is said to have killed his wife and sons as well as all the baby boys of Bethlehem.
But the first major exhibition on the Biblical ruler at the Israel Museum sets out to prove that he also had positive qualities that make him more deserving of the title "Herod the Great".
"We tried to show that he was not only the cruel person described by [the Jewish historian] Josephus and the New Testament but he was also a ruler who managed to keep this country in peace for 33 years," says curator Silvia Rosenburg.
"It was probably very difficult being a local ruler caught between the Roman Empire and the different exigencies of Judaism, but he did it very well. In his time there was prosperity and work for everyone."
Full text is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21460847
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When I read the book I had the same question:"Why did Victoe Ephrussi and Emmy not depart when the Nazis came to power.
I Looked at the Geneology chart and saw that Victor was born in 1860 making him 79 in 1939.
Not many people of that age are willing to make a big move away from their home at that age.
In my mind I heard his thoughts:
"Soon I will die. I'd rather die here, surrounded by the familiar than in a strange land surrounded by the unknown."
This is as I said something I thought but it rang true to me knowing myself and other folk of that age. I asked myself what would I have done in his place?
I'm not sure.
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I had a hard time reading the section on the nazis -- at the beginning detailing all the THINGS that were destroyed, and I was thinking "never mind the things: what about the people: who lives, who dies, who lives, but lives a half life like so many I met in Israel who survived but never recovered?"
I admit, I bid on two of the netsuke that were in the link posted to eBAY. (the owl, and one of the hares). I didn't get either: someone bid against me, and I didn't want to get into a bidding war. i've never bid on e-bay before: there's clearly a strategy to it, which I am clueless about.
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How exciting, JoanK, that you bid on the netsuke. I'm sorry you didn't get one.
JudeS, I think that Vicktor's age could well have made him feel that he couldn't make a big move, let alone abandon his collections, his family home and the bank.
Many countries were not acknowledging the wrongness of what Hitler was doing. If the world was not against him, then it is easier to understand why Viktor and Emmy didn't leave Vienna.
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"I bid on two of the netsuke that were in the link posted to eBAY." I'm curious, JoanK - what did they sell for? Did the link give you any idea how old they were? Or were they reproductions? I have on my desk this note - no longer remember where I found it...
"Netsuke evolved over time from being strictly utilitarian into objects of great artistic merit and an expression of extraordinary craftsmanship. Such objects have a long history reflecting the important aspects of Japanese folklore and life. Netsuke production was most popular during the Edo period in Japan, around 1615-1868. Today, the art lives on, and some modern works can command high prices in the UK, Europe, the USA, Japan and elsewhere. Inexpensive yet faithful reproductions are available in museums and souvenir shops."
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As I read through your questions and your posts, I can't help but think of what this story would have been without the memoirs and now the letters from Elizabeth Ephrussi to her family after the war came to a close. I am thinking of how few letters I write to my own family these days. Everything is email. On the occasions I do write with pen and paper, I find it difficult now...the mistakes I make that need do-overs - either that or cross out, which I refuse to do. I find I'm typing up my letters on the computer - and then copying them on to paper. (Quicker to email what I have typed.)
"I am not sure how the Jewish people, especially those immediately affected by the Holocaust handle it and go on." Barbara, as you say, the response to unimaginable loss and abuse will vary. My heart goes out to you. You're right. Somehow you go on the best you can. De Waal had his grandmother's letters which described how each member of the Ephrussi family coped with their loss.
"Soon I will die. I'd rather die here, surrounded by the familiar than in a strange land surrounded by the unknown." Jude, Viktor Ephrussi got his wish - did not live long in the strange land of England...but the rest of the family seemed to get on, reinventing their lives, didn't they? (With the exception of Emmy, that is.)
"...at the beginning detailing all the THINGS that were destroyed, and I was thinking "never mind the things: what about the people?" Dare I say, JoanK, de Waal doesn't address your question, as much as he concentrates on the loss of THINGS. Am I missing something?
In one of her letters, Elizabeth Ephrussi detailed a return to her "emptied home" in Vienna in 1945. Did you notice that the lacquered vitrine was still there where it had always been? - emptied of course. And Anna had spent the occupation - and the war - in the Palais!
The question in my mind - what did she intend to do with the netsuke collection, had Elizabeth not returned? Or was there no question in her mind that the family would return as soon as it was safe again?
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An interesting thought, JOANP, but considering the long Jewish experience with intolerance
I would think the Ephrussi's were well aware of what claims to superiority could lead to.
The Rothschilds were wise enough to recognize the changing climate and escape in good
time. The Ephrussi's, with such popular members as Charles Ephrussi, seemed to believe
they were safely integrated.
I am sorry this has all brought up such painful memories, BARB. I hope sharing them with
us has helped.
I could see that, too, JUDE. Apparently, for Emmy, it was all at last too much. At the
end, she simply couldn't bear to live any longer under the constant tension of waiting for the
axe to fall.
I was am so impressed by Elizabeth, tho'. What a remarkable woman. What a sharp, clear,
decisive mind. I am convinced there is nothing she could not accomplish once she set her
mind to it.
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Joan P
Yes, , deWaal is writing about THINGS not people.
THINGS are stable with no inner life. To write about people is so different. To write about people you have to be a Novelist.
Our author is writing "Literary Journalism" which is non fiction with literary techniques.
One of the reasons this book so stirred me (and it seems millions of others) is that it leaves a lot to the imagination. It stirs the imagination and forces you to fill in the gaps, making you a partner in the on going events.
The story of the Holocaust is not one story but six million differnt ones. There is no one definitive book about the events.
Each story is a world unto itself.
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"The story of the Holocaust is not one story but six million differnt ones. There is no one definitive book about the events.
Each story is a world unto itself. "
More than six million ones. The people like those in the book who didn't go to the camps have their stories, too. And yes, JoanP, deWaal tells them eventually. It was the suspense.
Yes, he is telling about things, and through their things we glimpse the people. It is fascinating.
Since I didn't continue upping the other bidder, one netsuke went for around $35. The other had a reserve price which hadn't been met when I stopped paying attention.
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an aside - JoanK my experience is there is always this unknown someone who starts to bid you up - my tactic that has worked is to wait till 1- minutes before due time and up my bid - if no other takes I have it if another biider shows than try to get as close as you can within the last minute for your final bid. I also put in a range that I judge to be higher than the alternate bidders appear to be comfortable with - but I only do that near the last minutes because I do not want to push the bidding higher past my range - the only bid that will count is if it is past your range - you only pay the lowest if you are the winner not the high end of your range.
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Good tip. I wish I'd thought of that.
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"Netsuke production was most popular during the Edo period in Japan, around 1615-1868."
I find myself wondering why those netsuke carvers suddenly stopped carving them in 1868. The only thing I can think of is that the style of dress may have changed and they were no longer needed. Any ideas?
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"Yes, he is telling about things, and through their things we glimpse the people."
Good points, Joank, Jude. - I hadn't considered that he was emphasizing the things so that we might better understand his people.
There was another line in the book:
"Jews matter less than what they once possessed."
Another example of the dehumanization of the Jews and the value placed on their possessions?
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JOAN, 1868 was a major year in Japanese history, I find. After years of war, 1868 marked
the beginning of the Meiji period. I found the new national leadership systematically ended
feudalism and transformed Japan into a world power that closely followed Western models.
Then I found this on the netsuke: "The late period (late 19th and early 20th century).
During the latter part of the 19th century Western influence and style were introduced to
Japan after two centuries of isolation. European merchants clamored for Japanese wares,
good, bad and indifferent. The excellence of netsuke carving diminished, but the little
carved objects found great favor with the foreigners who took them back to the West. With
the advent of Western style clothes in Japan, the netsuke lost its practical purpose as a
toggle and became strictly an art form. Among outstanding carvers of this period were
Tokoku and Sosui.
Back to the people! What a lovely bit of serendipity! So convenient. Elizabeth returns to Vienna, to her childhood home, in hopes of claiming her mother's portrait. And how is the house now being used? It is the offices of the American Headquarters/Legal Council Property Control Sub-Section. Exactly the people
she needs to see.
Anna's story is the most positive story I've heard yet, doing more than anything else to re-assure me of the reality of human loyalty and decency. And after reading of the horrendous behavior...although I already knew of that...of the Nazi Gestapo, what a relief was the contrasting behavior of the American officials there. Delighted to have Elizabeth there, courteous, helpful, friendly. I hope this kind of attitude helped just a little bit with the healing.
little bit with the healing
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Thanks for looking into the netsuke issue, Babi I can see where the Ephrussi collection would be quite valuable. Probably the greatest treasure from the whole Ephrussi estate, don't you think? And to think that Anna had been sleeping on them until one of the family members returned. I wonder two things about her- how was she so sure anyone would return - would want to return?
And then what was life like for Anna when Elizabeth left Vienna, probably for good. With the netsuke, her last connection, to the family. No reward, nothing. Edmund was sorry he didn't think to ask her last name.
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"It was a family that could not put itself back together."
It seems that individual family members moved on with their lives, some better than others...but they never returned to their old selves. Which got your attention? The idea of Rudolf in Arkansas tickled me, but my goodness - Iggy reinvented himself - comfortable in his new skin?
Does anyone know what it meant that Rudolf and Iggy were "demobbed" from the US army at the end of the war?
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demobbed - demobilization from the armed services.
Why he didn't just say discharged, I don't know unless it is a term associated with the mass discharges after the war.
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Joan and Frybabe, the word "demobbed" stumped me too.
"Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary. The opposite of demobilization is mobilization. Forceful demobilization of a defeated enemy is called Demilitarization.
In the final days of World War II, for example, the United States Armed Forces developed a demobilization plan which would discharge soldiers on the basis of a point system that favoured length and certain types of service."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demobilization
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I think "demobbed" is the British expression. I know my parents, who were British, used that expression and not discharged.
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In the next section we're following the netsuke on their "return" to Japan with Iggie. I was interested in the changes that de Waal describes that took place in Japan after the War. What were some of the changes that struck you?
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I was struck by frequent comment about the initials on Nazi documents being 'illegible'. I suppose that could simply be the result of hurried clerks and dispatchers with a huge pile of records to sign. But it could also be the guilty wish not to be identified in case the ruin and theft were ever challenged.
Full circle. After a century of travel and passing through generations of Ephrussi, the netsuke are returning home. I am interested in meeting the remarkable Jiro Shizuoka.
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Don't you wish you could raise your hand and ask de Waal a question or two? I would like to know why Elizabeth decided to give the netsuke collection to her young, unsettled, bachelor brother with no home of his own - rather than keep them to play with her own sons as her own mother had played with her. Were those memories too painful for her? Did she want to distance herself from her old life?
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Babi, it was stricking, with all of the thoroughness of the confiscation of property by the Nazi's, that when it came time for people to claim their property there were lots of small "technicalities" that prevented them from doing so.
Joan, it seemed to me that Iggie took possession of the netsuke and said that he was bringing them "home" rather than Elizabeth actually giving them to her brother. Now that you bring it up, I wonder how old her children were at the time.
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Elizabeth's sons were born in 1929 and 1931. Much too old to play with Netsuke after the war.
Iggie had a choice; To be stationed in Congo or Japan.
By giving him the Netsuke, Elizabeth helped him make the choice. Going to the Congo was frought with many health risks at that time and even now. Japan was more or less safe with a long cultural history. They (Iggie and Elizabeth) had grown up exposed to that culture (at least partially).
It was a fitting present for a sister to give a brother who had fought in a war and survived. It was a link to the family and the life they had once known. It was a gesture of love.
With all their losses, this was a family who knew how to love.
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Thanks for those dates, Jude -
I can understand Elizabeth giving the netsuke to her younger brother who had enjoyed playing with them as a child. Apparently her own boys were not attached to them...
Fitting that the netsuke were carried back to Japan in Iggie's little attaché case. I liked to imagine them, happily at "home" in Japan. But wait a minute...Iggie's giving them to his sister's grandson, who will take them out of Japan again - to England this time. What do you think of that? Iggie considered Edmund a worthy caretaker of the collection- he appreciated them, shared his appreciation for Japanese art.
Do you think he ever considered leaving them to Jiro...his adopted son - who had lived with, held and appreciated the little carvings for many years?
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I 'm really interested in this inside picture of post-war Japan. Iggy lived it - I think it is accurate? I remember when my uncle came home from serving in Japan after the war. I was seven or eight. He brought gifts and souvenirs home for everyone. I vaguely remember a folded, painted paper fan. But to my grandmother he brought a "geisha" doll, wearing red robes, an elaborate black hairdo...Grammy kept her behind glass in a locked cabinet. Everyone was relieved that the youngest uncle never saw action - had the good fortune to serve in Japan after the war.
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Yes, thanks for the dates, Jude.
Actually, it's Jiro who bequeaths the netsuke to Edmund. (I think that Jiro and Iggie must have talked about it before Iggie died.) In the prolog, de Waal says that he went to Iggie's funeral. After the funeral he returns to the apartments of Jiro and Iggie and helps sort out Iggie's clothes. "When this job is done, over a glass of wine, Jiro takes out his brush and ink and writes a document and seals it. It says, he tells me, that once he has gone I should look after the netsuke."
Edmund seems the likely candidate. It keeps the netsuke in the family and he is very familiar with Japanese art and appreciates the netsuke. Given the kind of utilitarian, amusing figurines the netsuke are, and their history with his family, it seems fitting that Edmund have them and share them with his children, even though it means taking them from Japan. They might not even be treasured by many Japanese since netsuke "fell out of fashion" in Japan in the 1950s.
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That's interesting, JoanP, that you have a connection to Japan via your uncle. Does someone still have the geisha doll?
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I have just finished my second reading of The Hare and with the help of this discussion and the Family Tree and all the different sites members put on here I have enjoyed it ever so much more. Unfortunately I do not read as fast as I used to. Thank you all and I will contin ue to read the forthcoming discussions.
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Either in this section or the next, de Waal mentions that Iggie was a big Len Deighton fan. I never heard of him so I looked him up. Now, The Ipcress File I do know because it was made into a movie. Of course I had to go out and get one of his books. I ended up with City of Gold, set in Cairo during WWII. Deighton also liked to cook and wrote several cookbooks, a weekly cooking guide type comic strip. He also wrote several nonfiction history books.
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Ah, thanks, MARCIE. I remembered there was something about that in the prologue.
I had no idea there had been such devastation in Tokyo. 16 square miles of the city destroyed, 100,00 people killed. Yet that was not enough to bring them to surrender. It took an atomic bomb.
Still, I reminded myself that London had also been blitzed by the Germans. They lost 1/3 of the city, tho. I don't know what that comes to in square miles. They lost 40% of the housing. But nowhere near 100, 000 people. Tokyo was a much more populous city. The London blitz apparently aroused the stubborn defiance of it's citizens. I don't know how the citizens of Tokyo felt about it. Maybe we'll find out.
I'm a Len Deighton fan, too, FRYBABE. Have you tried Alistair McLean? His 'Ice Station Zebra' was so well
written I was feeling the cold.
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
|
For Your Consideration
February Feb. 24-28
Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London 2001-2009
De Waal calls the last section of the book, his "Coda." What does this mean?
What do we learn in the Coda of his story?
35. Jiro
Why did Edmund return to Tokyo 15 years after his uncle's death? Was there a reason he brought the newspaper clipping of the sale of the diamond-studded Ephrussi-Rothschild Faberge egg to show Jiro? To impress him?
36. An Astrolabe, A Menzula, A Globe
~ The de Waal brothers returned to Odessa, to find the city where the Efrussi famly started. Do they find anything of the family here?
~ What causes Edmund to question what his book is really about - his family, himself, or the small Japanese things?
~ "I realize how wrong I've been." What effect did this "family archive" in the envelope found in Iggy's flat and the yellow seder armchair chair in the synagogue have on Edmund? How does he regard Odessa now, after this visit?
37. YELLOW/Gold/RED
~ What are some of the questions the visit brings up? Should the story begin in the shtetl in the Ukraine, not Odessa?
~ Edmund is ready to finish the story now?
~ Should the netsuke stay in Japan? How does de Waal answer this question? How do the netsuke tie in with the Ephrussi family's vagabonding?
Question from the Publisher
~Edmund originally thought that all the Ephrussi "vagabonding" stemmed from a desire to develop culturally and grow from the provincialism of Odessa. But he realized that Odessa itself was a very culturally rich city. Why do you think it was so important for the Ephrussis to send tendrils of their families to different cities?
Questions and Comments from you, our readers
Related Links: link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
Ephrussi family photos (http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/)
Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8wqJINrGj0)
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Ice Station Zebra is one of my all time favorite movies, but I never read the book.
I don't think the war devastation in Japan was publicized near as much as in Europe.
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No, I don't think so either, Fry. I think news of Tokoyo's desctruction was overshadowed by the total devastation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima (http://www.mctv.ne.jp/~bigapple/).
On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced his country's unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of "a new and most cruel bomb."
(http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/47/91847-004-669368AC.jpg)
I remember seeing photos of Hiroshima today - I'll try to find one:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/HiroshimaNight.jpg)
Amazing, isn't it? The last known survivor died very recently at 93. He must have witnessed the revival of these two cities since 1945 - as Iggie did in Japan. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/06/hiroshima-nagasaki-survivor-dies
It struck me when reading of Iggie's arrival in Tokyo as it was in the process of rebuilding - much resembled Charles Ephrussi's family as settling in Paris as it was being rebuilt - and Viktor Ephrussi's family rebuilding their lives in Vienna... He probably knew his family history - starting over, settling in a new place was in his nature.
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Waafer, you've read this book twice now... I'm almost finished with first reading! :D You are doing just fine. Please do return for future discussions. I think you'll really like "The End of Your Life Book Club" (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=3730.0) (click this link to the new discussion)- You will probably get some ideas for future reading too!
So now we know how the netsuke was returned to Japan. It makes sense that Iggie would have left his home and contents to Jiro. And it makes sense that Jiro would decide to will the netsuke to Edmund. I can't think of who else he would have left them to.
Were you at all confused about the relationship between Iggie and Jiro? I thought I understood that they were partners - until I read that Iggie had adopted Jiro as his son. Why do you think he did that? Did I miss something - again?
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JoanP, it may have had something to do with inheritance laws that prompted Iggie to adopt Jiro. I remember reading of other such adoptions, mostly before WWI in Europe where there were strict inheritance and entitlement rules such as we saw in Downton Abbey.
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Waafer, since you've read the book twice, you've probably noticed details that I overlooked. Please feel free to jump in and mention anything at all. We've got the rest of this month to talk about the book. I'm glad that you'll participate in other discussions too.
JoanP, thanks for posting those photos. You say "It struck me when reading of Iggie's arrival in Tokyo as it was in the process of rebuilding - much resembled Charles Ephrussi's family as settling in Paris as it was being rebuilt - and Viktor Ephrussi's family rebuilding their lives in Vienna... He probably knew his family history - starting over, settling in a new place was in his nature." That's a good point that I hadn't thought about.
I also perked up when Iggie adopted Jiro. I'm thinking the same as Frybabe that it must have had to do with inheritance laws. He wanted to leave his apartment and everything to Jiro and this was probably the easiest way (but it did seem a bit strange).
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Iggie and Jiro were partners. Because Gay marriage is not legal in Japan, Iggie found a clever way around it.
He really wanted to make sure his Life partner inherited all that was coming to him.All that had been his.
Jiro too was a loving and good man and wanted the Netsuke to remain in Iggie's family. Edmund was the obvious candidate. He picked well. Without that inheritance we would never had this wonderful book and story.
Edmund took his inheritance very seriously and thus his life was changed. He and his family got the Netsuke and the world got this marvelous history of a family and an age which was so full of world shaking events that it reverberates with all who read it.
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Jude, you're right. Passing along the stories of the netsuke was very important to Edmund. I'm learning a lot reading about them. I confess that I don't think I'd ever heard of the Ephrussi family before I read the book.
I was struck by how condescending the Americans were to the Japanese after the War. They were characterized as childish and almost too "simple" to learn.
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I've been trying to understand the Japanese people both before and after the war, Marcie. I've learned that the Emperor Hirohito had been on the throne since 1926...and remained Emperor of Japan until his death in 1989.
"The view promoted by both the Japanese Imperial Palace and the American occupation forces immediately after World War II portrayed Emperor Hirohito as a powerless figurehead behaving strictly according to protocol, while remaining at a distance from the decision-making processes."
"It was a good story line and suited the needs of both Japanese and Americans. If the emperor had been powerless to halt the warmongers in the army, how could ordinary Japanese have done so? Thus the people of Japan, like the Chinese or the Filipinos, could also be considered the victims of the militarists. Although there were some weaknesses and inconsistencies, the story came to be widely accepted in both the United States and Japan."
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Macarthur_hirohito.jpg/220px-Macarthur_hirohito.jpg)
General MacArthur and the Emperor at Allied GHQ in Tokyo. September 17, 1945
De Waal presents a sympathetic portrait of the Japanese people...leaderless in the hands, at the mercy of the American occupation...doing whatever to survive, to make a living at a time when there was little housing, food, fuel, clothing, overcrowding... The Americans would see them as "simple," "childish," weak and worse..."vulgar" - "hedonistic" in their attempts to survive.
I love de Waal's contrast here, describing Iggie's entrance into this moral climate "with his small attache case with ivory monks..."
So how does Jiro fit into this picture?
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Wow, Joan. I had missed that. I now see how the characterization of the emperor and people as powerless served the aims of the Japanese too.
The surviving people were actually quite resilient, peeling off layers to survive financially and transforming themselves to cope with the changed world. I don't know if there were any "Westernization" influences before the War. If not, it seems a very rapid change for the younger generations to take so quickly to the music, dress and pop-culture of the West. I noticed the detail that the young office workers instituted a culture of tardiness as well.
Jiro shared Iggie's love of opera and liked jazz as well. I'll have to go back to see what other details I might have missed about Jiro in his younger days.
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To understand Japan's culture after WW2 there is no better source than Kenzaburo Oe (1935- ).
He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994.
I found hid books wonderful and he remains one of my all-time favorite authors.
Through his books you learn that there is little difference between the modern Japanese people and us.
Understanding the japanese people who went to war againdt us is another matter and I have no suggestions for that.
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Thank you, Jude, for the information about Kenzaburo Oe. I had not heard of him.
Wikipedia says that "Ōe was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994 for creating "an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today" " He sounds like someone I would like to read.
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Marcie
If you do read Oe start with "The Silent Cry", his masterpiece.
I think I have read all of his books. I was really taken with this author . He taught at Stanford for a few years.
Many of his books deal with a fictionalized account of his brain damaged son. In real life this child, now a man of 44, became a composer savant whose C.D.s are very well known in Japan. It is an amazing true life part of Oe's world.
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Wow, Jude. He's written quite a few books. My library has a number of them, including THE SILENT CRY. THanks for the recommendation to start with it.
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I suppose you would have to say, JOAN, that for the Jewish people most of their
history consists of starting over in a new place. Their resiliency is remarkable,
isn't it? Can someone explain why Ignace is now 'Leo' Ephrussi? I must have missed
that somewhere along the line.
Jiro did have family, but we don't know how close a relationship they maintained.
I think I remember he was the middle child of five, a family of shoe manufacturers.
We don't know what they thought about his relationship with the 'gaijin'. I think FRYBABE's
suggestion is the most likely explanation.
I suppose this is 'occupation' language. A bit ironic, don't you think? "Democracy had come to Japan. The local and foreign press were censored."
De Waal's analysis of why the Japanes are so good with delicate things, so deft with their fingers, seems well thought out. I had never considered that before, but it seems a very logical conclusion that the smallness of their country, the handling of small things like chopsticks from childhood give them that delicacy of touch. And his observation that they 'display their nature in finishing their work with delicate skill and scrupulous execution' does explain why they are so successful in the world of modern electronics technology.
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Babi, I believe that Iggie's full name was Ignace Leon von Ephruss. When he went to America he used a variation of his middle name.
Good pick up on the irony in those sentences: "Democracy had come to Japan. The local and foreign press were censored." My interpretation is that the information about netsuke in Chapter 32 that de Waal quotes from a Japan Travel Bureau guide published in 1951, "that records 'valuable help given by Rear Admiral Benton W. Dekker, former commander of US Fleet Activities in Yokosuka..." is also in the same vein of irony. It's the American view of the talents of the "small," "child-like" Japanese people.
To follow up on the information you posted about Jiro's family, Jiro was part of "a prosperous and entreprenurial family." He studied at a University in Tokyo and when he met Leo Jiro was twenty-six and had just returned from three years studying at an American University on a scholarship. So it seems that he was a good match for Iggie as he was well-educated and shared Iggie's love of music, travel and fine food.
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I think it was Jude who pointed out several days ago, that de Waal's story is really about things, about the netsuke collection and how it passed hands until it reached him. There is a whole lot more to the personal stories of the Ephrussis that he skims over in his pursuit of the netsuke story. If Iggie wrote this book, we'd learn more of his fascinating life that finally led to his "adopting" Jiro. I don't think it was soley to provide a secure home in Japan for the netsuke.
Iggie did write an article about his collection - saying that it was "GOOD FORTUNE" that had brought the netsuke back to Japan after three generations in Europe.
I can understand what you are saying about the "adoption" being a means of bequeathing his possessions to Jiro. I can't help but wonder, though, what Jiro's big family in nearby Shizuoka thought of this - his own father and grandfather. Did they even know about the adoption, or was it regarded as just so much legalese? I am inclined to believe it was de Waal who drew his "Japanese uncle" into the family tree as Iggy's son. Did you notice that on the tree?
I promise to get back to the netsukes' and their popularity in the 50's...just got sidetracked in Jiro's relationship with Iggie - quite an unusual one, don't you think?
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In the process of seeing if I could find Iggie's article on the Netsuki if it was put up on the net somewhere I ran across something else entirely. I am still on the trail of the elusive Shey estate along the Vah River where they often spent time.
This does not really help, but it is kind of interesting nonetheless. It is a Shey family genealogy. The Shey's we are interested in are under baron Fredrich, almost half way down the page, also Emmy is listed farther down with her own paragraph (baroness Emmy (Emmi) Henrietta SCHEY von KOROMLA). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~prohel/names/misc/schey.html
Emmy's great(?)grandfather Frederich (and others) was from Kőszeg (formerly Guns), Hungary, which is south of Vienna. Nowhere near the Vah River. Emmy herself was born in Linz - Kövecses. Well, there is a Linz in Austria and Korvesces is in Slovinia. Maybe they weren't surem where she was bprn because it looks like they weren't sure of the exact birth date either. None of this helps me pinpoint the estate.
As for the disposition of the estate, the Germans managed to leave the Jews in that area alone until late in the war. The Russians "liberated" the area and nationalized all the private property. Considering it was a farm estate, it probably became some kind of government run farm commune. The Vah River, BTW, is a major tributary of the Danube. Best I can tell, it is noted for good fishing and boating.
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Jude, I was just thinking (always a bad sign ;D ). Would you like to nominate Kenzaburo Oe's The Silent Cry for a future book discussion? You've talked about his work before. I'd like to read some of it, but with all my other TBRs it isn't likely to happen unless we do a book discussion.
Wouldn't you know it, my library has four of his books, but not that one.
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JoanP, I didn't notice that Jiro was on the family tree as Iggie's son. That would make him de Waal's "cousin." ;)
Frybabe, you didn't find the information you ultimately want but good sleuthing!
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Frybabe
Would I suggest The Silent Cry for a group read?
No , I wouldn't. It is too dark and depressing. At least I found it so. That doesn't take away from it's worth but not a good discussion book.
If one of you reads Oe's "A Personal Matter" and enjoys it , that might be a better choice since it is easier to digest and much less painfull. I would need to hear that someone else beside myself thinks it is worth discussing.
This writer is steeped in his own culture and you have to take a big step to join him. Once you are there it becomes easier
and easier to assimilate the material and understand the world the author is writing about.
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Thanks for the input Jude. My library has these Oe books:
The Changling
A Quiet Life
Hiroshima Notes
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
The last listed looks like a title for a book of poetry or some kinds of humor. It's not. Still it looks interesting , except that there isn't a happy ending. I didn't check to see what the others are about.
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Ah, thank you Marcie. I had forgotten about that middle name. I also needed
to be corrected about his age when he met Iggie. I was thinking it was much
earlier, when he was about 18 and in college. Not sure where I got that idea.
Iggie in Japan has me worried now. "Every night he had drinks with clients." Then there is a listing of four or five different bars where he would 'have drinks' with clients. Even one drink per bar would be quite a lot, and we don't know if he had only one drink with each of them. Every night?
De Waal is sarcastic about all the books on Japan written by people who spent maybe a year there. "Japan--my, what an odd country! A country in transition. Vanishing traditions. Enduring traditions. Essential verities. Seasons in. Myopia of the Japanese. Love of detail of. Dexterity. Self-sufficiency of. Childishness of. Inscrutibility of. " Okay.. I feel for all intents and purposes I know all that those books have to say, and don't feel a need to read any of them. ;D
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Well, yes, Marcie...Elizabeth is Jiro's aunt. That makes him her son Victor's cousin - and then Edmund would be a second cousin, wouldn't he? :D
"What do you think of Iggie's two decisions after he returns from visiting Vienna in 1973?"
Iggy and Jiro had traveled the world together. But hadn't been back to Vienna since he left in 1936. Jiro goes with him to see where Iggy had come from. This must have been a moving experience fo rIggy- as it had been for Elizabeth. Can't help but wonder where Anna is at the time of this visit. She isn't mentioned after Elizabeth's visit in 1945.
De WaaI writes that Iggy made two decisions when they returned from that visit to Vienna...and tells us the two decisions were connected. To adopt Jiro - and to revoke his American citizenship. I think I understand why the second..., but what was it about the trip to Vienna that made him decide to adopt Jiro? And how were the two decisions connected? There was nothing in Vienna that Iggy - or Jiro as his son would inherit. What did you think of this?
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Babi has me thinking now - about Iggy and the many bars. If he's living the life of the "real Japan" I'm wondering what the difference is between those he seems to consider the tourists. Is it the type of bars he's frequenting?
I've also been thinking about the fraternization that is taking place in Japan in those years immediately following the war - among the Japanese, the Americans and the Europeans de Waal writes about. Didn't you find this surprising? Would you expect to see this in post-war Germany? Of course Japan is occupied - but the friendliness among the former enemies makes me wonder...
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The "drinking with clients" seems to be pretty common in Japan: part of their culture. I admit, though, it does sound like a worrying amount of alcohol, if Jiro doesn't know how to control it.
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I am wondering what they were drinking at the bars. Rice was scarce after the war, so the Japanese government discouraged making alcoholic beverages from it. Still, there was some around and probably lots of foreign imports.
Japanese beer anyone? A little about the post war occupation and restrictions: http://www.kirinholdings.co.jp/english/company/history/group/05.html
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JoanP, you write
"De WaaI writes that Iggy made two decisions when they returned from that visit to Vienna...and tells us the two decisions were connected. To adopt Jiro - and to revoke his American citizenship. I think I understand why the second..., but what was it about the trip to Vienna that made him decide to adopt Jiro? And how were the two decisions connected? There was nothing in Vienna that Iggy - or Jiro as his son would inherit. What did you think of this?"
I've been thinking about the two decisions. It may be because there was nothing left in Vienna for either Iggie or Jiro to inherit that Iggie made the decision to adopt Jiro. The Nazis had created a legal system with lots of paper that overwrote the ownership of Iggie and his family's property. It was the legal paperwork that determined ownership. Perhaps Iggie wanted to make sure that Jiro had the legal system behind him; hence, the decision to adopt.
There was nothing left in Vienna for Iggie. Others were living in his house. It was no longer his home. He had made a new life for himself and Jiro in Japan. It seems from de Waal's descriptions that he considered Japan his home now. (Do I remember correctly that de Waal says that Iggie had spent more time in Japan than he had in Vienna?) He likely didn't want to be an "American" in Japan-- identified with a condescending conqueror, especially over the person he loved most. I think he was acknowledging his creation of a new home and new family.
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The idea of the American occupation forces - with no beer on a Saturday night! It boggles the mind! An interesting article, Fry. I noted this -
"The Korean War, which broke out in June 1950, triggered an economic boom in Japan, which provided supplies and services for U.S. forces. Japanese beer companies also benefited from the boom and sharply increased production during these years."
In the "Real Japan" chapter, Iggy has become a "long term Tokyo resident. He loved Tokyo by the early sixties. That seems to be the time he was drinking so heavily with clients in one bar after another.
Marcie - I went back and reread the passage about Iggy's return visit to Vienna after all those years - and decided to adopt Jiro. De Waal writes that Iggy's decisions makes him wonder "what belonging to a place means." He writes that "Viktor was a Russian in Vienna for fifty years, then Austrian, then a citizen of the Reich, and then stateless. Elizabeth kept Dutch citizenship in England for fifty years. And Iggy was Austrian, then American then an Austrian living in Japan." You assimilate, but you need somewhere else to go. You keep your passport to hand."
It sounds to me as if he's decided that he's not an American, he's not going back to America. Does this mean then that he considers himself an Austrian living in Japan? Still not clear how this is connected to his relationship with Jiro. Does adopting Jiro make him the son of an Austrian? In a way, is Jiro an Austrian living in Japan?...a Japanese man with legal connections to Austria?
Now I'm wondering what would have happened to Iggy's "estate" in Japan, had he not adopted Jiro? Who would have been the next of kin? Where would the netsuke collection be today?
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Elizabeth tried to find some trace of Anna but was unsuccessful. Considering how
thorough Elizabeth was in everything she did, I doubt very much if anyone else could
have found her. But I think we all liked Anna so much, we'd love to know more about
her.
Just speculating, JOAN, but perhaps going back to his roots and remembering his
heritage and the destruction that took it all away...maybe he just wanted to pass
on that heritage. Yes, he had relatives, but Jiro was closest to him in all things.
He could be sure Jiro understood, and appreciated, all that it meant.
So what is the 'real' Japan. "Getting to the whole and untouched means getting
out of Tokyo: Japan starts where the sounds of the city end." We're in the sixties
now. The occupation is long over. But it would seem that Tokyo is permanently
Westernized.
Impossible to guess what might have happened to the netsuke. I'm just grateful they
survived. I love that apt description, 'sculpture for the hand'.
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...And of course no one would have the netsuke today if it hadn't been for Anna - hiding them in her mattress for all those years. You have to wonder how hard any one of them looked for Anna - Elizabeth, Iggy - or Edmund de Waal, for that matter. He didn't even think to ask her last name. Don't you think it would be on record somewhere? She just seems to them to be a minor character in their family's history. But I would think that she'd be important to de Waal in his story of the netsuke's history.
"Sculpture for the hand" Finally Iggy has researched the value of the signed netsuke..When De Waal receives them, they have little stickers identifying each one. I found a picture of the Tomokazu tiger...and his tortoises. But they keep eluding me when I try to posts them here.
Here it is - the boxwood tiger. De Waal says this tiger is the "star" of the Ephrussi netsuke collection - Can you feel it in your hand?
(http://www.theasiamag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/photo_on_slide/Japanese-tiger-netsuke-by-Toyokazu,-Edo-period-18th-century,-Ephrussi-Collection-and-Edmund-de-Waal.jpg)
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Today we move on to the last section - but there was a lot more in Part IV that we skimmed over. Please feel free to refer back to any of those pages...
De Waal calls the last section of the book, his "Coda." What is a coda supposed to be? Is it a conclusion, an iteration of what has been said already? Or is something added to the story? Was his book finished when he returned to Odessa at the end?
Maybe we need to reread these last pages before answering this question... How difficult
Ult it mus be to end a book like this!
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A charming netsuke, but it doesn't look much like the tigers I know. Are there
tigers in Japan? I wonder what the carver was using for a model?
I'm not sure I understand De Waal's compulsion to visit every place connected with his family. All he finds in Odessa is a single iron balcony with the Ephrussi double-E and corn ears. It's important to him to touch that. I think that this search has become an obsession. It seems he could have learned as much at this stage, at much less cost, by staying home and studying all the material his Dad kept turning up.
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I think you're right, Babi. There wasn't much left of the house, the house in ruins - a "mess," Edmunc writes. But where you and Edmund's brother, Thomas, gave up finding traces of the Ephrussis, I thinik Edmund and I are seeing the Ephrussi legacy very much alive in Odessa, causing Edmund to write, "The Efrussi boys are still here." This discovery seems to be causing Edmund to rethink his first conclusion as to why the family left Odessa.
Maybe we need to read more into these concluding chapters, which take place on the author's return trips between 2001 and 2009. Before the book is published. He wants to check his facts, to get this right.
First stop - Tokyo, where he visits Jiro for three days, going over details. Jiro has left the house exactly as it was when Iggy died 15 years ago. What was the point? Did he learn anything new? Was it worth the trip?
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One of the questions or anomalies that de Waal doesn't really address is the Efrussi switch from Judaism to Church of England.
This comes to the forefront on pages 347-8 where he writes:
"When she died two years later my father, a clergyman in the Church of England, stood inhis Benedictine-black,
rabbinical-black-cassock and recited the KADDISH for his mother in the parrish church near her nursing home."
The author has no comment on this happening. He attaches no explanation why the Jewish prayer for the dead, ( perhaps in Hebrew since it is never said in another language)was said by his minister father.
Perhaps he too, like myself, thought,this is another of life's strange anomalies, let it be.
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Babi, I don't have the artistic gifts that de Waal has but he seems like a very visual and tactile person. He can't connect with his ancestors unless he sees and touches the places where they lived.
It seems odd to me that despite his desire to come so close to them by visiting their homes, he several times says that he is reluctant to read their letters or other personal materials, thinking it an invasion of their privacy.
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It appears the Jewish Ephrussi's have become fully integrated. Elizabeth is a
Dutch citizen happily attending church in London. Edmund's father is an
Anglican clergyman. Still, when his mother died, he stood in his cassock in
her parish church, and recited the Kaddish for her. How does one manage this
basic division in one's life?
A very good point, MARCIE. I can see how tactile contact would be an instinctive
need for a man whose passion is making pottery. Perhaps his reluctance to read
the letters is because those people have become very real to him. It has become
more than a research into the past. They have become a part of his own identity.
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"It appears the Jewish Ephrussi's have become fully integrated." Babi
"He can't connect with his ancestors unless he sees and touches the places where they lived." Marcie
"One of the questions or anomalies that de Waal doesn't really address is the Efrussi switch from Judaism to Church of England. The author has no comment on this happening. He attaches no explanation why the Jewish prayer for the dead " Jude
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We're left with the above questions...going into the Coda at the end of the book. (I keep asking myself the same question - what is a coda? A conclusion, an iteration of what has been said already? Or is something added to the story? )
I agree with you, de Waal has no trouble describing things - specifically things he can see and touch. And he can understand his ancestors by what he can touch - and observe. Beyond that, he leaves us with the anomalies Jude refers to.
Maybe we are seeing a change in his understanding of the Ephrussi - the Efrussi ancestors - in his return visit to Odessa right before his book goes to the publisher.
On this trip, he seems to see beyond the crumbling Efrussi mansion - he mentions the Efrussi orphanage still operating in Odessa, the library, the school for Jewish children - with the astrolabe(?), menzula (?), the globe donated by the Efrussi boys... He sees the yellow sedar chair in the synagogue and thinks of Charles' chair... (this can't be Charles' chair, is it?)
Do you remember the Ephrussis in Vienna - their near-complete assimilation there? (Except for quiet (secret) donations, and recording births, deaths with the Rabbinate.) The Jews of Odessa were not afraid to be Jews, to practice outwardly who they were. Why did they leave? Remember Goncourt's description of Charles the dancer?- "The Poles forgot Odessa, a city of pogroms..."
Edmund is beginning to think that Odessa was NOT where it all started for the Efrussis after all. He begins to think that he ought to make a trip to the shtetl (?) in the Ukraine if he really wants to understand his ancestors. But their town - Berdichev had been desroyed in the war...perhaps there was nothing left for him to touch there? :)
I'm trying to put all of this together - and think that in his indirect way, de Waal is trying to explain such anomalies as you've been noting.
That old saying comes to mind - you can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy. Or something like that.
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Re: Coda. My impression is that it is something more than a mere summary or conclusion. It can include clarifications, updates and things like "oh, by the way, this is what happened to so and so after the conclusion of the book. I like Webster's definition.
2
1 a : a concluding musical section that is formally distinct from the main structure
b : a concluding part of a literary or dramatic work
2 : something that serves to round out, conclude, or summarize and usually has its own interest
I had assumed (dangerous) that a shtetl was a slum or very poor community. But now that you brought it up JoanP, I looked it up. Am I glad I did. Shtetl meas small town. Wikipedia has a nice little write up on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtetl Once you get there, you might want to click on the Pale of Settlement link too. It is something else I didn't know, but was mentioned in the book.
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Thank you, Fry - for following up with the meaning of Coda and also the Efrussi family's roots in the shtetl in the Ukraine...
These are both important to de Waal's story, I think. After reading his Coda at the end of the book , I have even more questions about the family's Jewish heritage. I feel that he himself has interjected the personal with details of his immediate family - his grandmother and his father specifically. When you think about it - the whole book is a testament to his family's roots in the Ukrainian shtetl.
From the link Fry brought to us:
The concept of shtetl culture is used as a metaphor for the traditional way of life of 19th-century Eastern European Jews. Shtetls are portrayed as pious communities following Orthodox Judaism, socially stable and unchanging despite outside influence or attacks. The Holocaust resulted in the disappearance of the vast majority of shtetls, through both extermination under Nazi occupation and exodus ...to the main cities of Russia, open to Jewish habitation since the fall of the Tsarist regime.
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Here's a link and an interesting fact concerning the Efrussi family home, the shtetl of Berdychiv -
"The banking industry was moved from Berdychiv to Odessa (a major port city) after 1850, and the town became impoverished again in a short period of time."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berdychiv
So, can we conclude that the family had to emigrate - to Odessa, a stopping point, before moving on the Vienna, Paris... Tokyo... London de Waal recognizes Charles' sedar chair in Odessa, sees Viktor entering births/deaths in the Rabbinate (?), tells us of Viktor's daughter requesting rabbinical studies and then de Waal's father, Victor, reading the Kaddish at his mother's funeral.
No wonder de Waal is at a loss to explain to the old scholar in Odessa what his book is about. At this point he writes that he is no longer sure whether it is his own personal story - or a book about the little Japanese netsuke he started out to write about.
How do you feel about the question - Should the netsuke have stayed in Japan? Didn't they seem quite at home there, in the land from which they came? I think I'm beginning to see the parallel between the Ephrussi family's wandering - and the netsuke collection. There is no returning home, is there - unless to the true place of origin?
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL
| (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/hare%20cover.jpg) | "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.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next." Edmund de Waal
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg)
click to enlarge (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/harenetsuke.jpg) |
Discussion Schedule:
Feb. 1-3 Prologue
Feb. 4-8 Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899
Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938
Feb. 14-18 Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947
Feb. 19-23 Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001
Feb. 24-28 Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009
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For Your Consideration
February Feb. 24-28
Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London 2001-2009
De Waal calls the last section of the book, his "Coda." What does this mean?
What do we learn in the Coda of his story?
35. Jiro
Why did Edmund return to Tokyo 15 years after his uncle's death? Was there a reason he brought the newspaper clipping of the sale of the diamond-studded Ephrussi-Rothschild Faberge egg to show Jiro? To impress him?
36. An Astrolabe, A Menzula, A Globe
~ The de Waal brothers returned to Odessa, to find the city where the Efrussi famly started. Do they find anything of the family here?
~ What causes Edmund to question what his book is really about - his family, himself, or the small Japanese things?
~ "I realize how wrong I've been." What effect did this "family archive" in the envelope found in Iggy's flat and the yellow seder armchair chair in the synagogue have on Edmund? How does he regard Odessa now, after this visit?
37. YELLOW/Gold/RED
~ What are some of the questions the visit brings up? Should the story begin in the shtetl in the Ukraine, not Odessa?
~ Edmund is ready to finish the story now?
~ Should the netsuke stay in Japan? How does de Waal answer this question? How do the netsuke tie in with the Ephrussi family's vagabonding?
Question from the Publisher
~Edmund originally thought that all the Ephrussi "vagabonding" stemmed from a desire to develop culturally and grow from the provincialism of Odessa. But he realized that Odessa itself was a very culturally rich city. Why do you think it was so important for the Ephrussis to send tendrils of their families to different cities?
Questions and Comments from you, our readers
Related Links: link to Ephrussi family tree (http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/hareambereyes/ephtree4%20001.jpg)
Ephrussi family photos (http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/)
Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8wqJINrGj0)
DIscussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) & Marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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Hello everybody! Long time, no see and I haven't got any excuses. Well one quite important.
I have fallen in love with this book, but it is too well and witty written, that is too hard for my school-English. So my reading speed(?) is so slow that I have decided to read it in my own pace, looking into your comments every other day and keep on broaden my knowledge. I have noticed that it is going better for every page I read, but it's a matter of fact that I'm still of the end of 1800.
When i read Charles writings about the impressionists, it actually takes me back to Paris hundred years later, when I was wandering in the museums with all the great masters. The Renoir's "Le Dejeuner des canotiers" and the "Luncheon of the Boating party".
So please forgive an uneducated old fool from Sweden. The correspondence with you lot, has given me much pleasure and I think, also a better understanding of English, American views of other cultures and countries.
Thank you all. And thanks for the silver lining you brought to my life. For that I am truly grateful.
The lazy Swede
Olle
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Olle, I think that de Waal would approve of your reading the book at your own pace, savoring the writing and bringing your own stories to life through information from the book.
I am torn, JoanP, about the netsuke leaving Japan. They did seem "at home" there. De Waal says that they are meant to tell and elicit stories. Moving from place to place makes that a richer experience and provides opportunities for more people to participate.
I think that de Waal discovered that the Ephrussi family, like many of the other Jewish families, seemed to try to "fit in" wherever they went. It seems to me they didn't lose themselves but they immersed themselves in the local culture and made a home wherever they went.
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Olle, even though our days are numbered as an open discussion, you will still be able to follow the posts that you see here in the discussion when it's archived. It's been a delight having you with us. We hope to see you in future discussions. Please stay in touch.
"....the Ephrussi family, like many of the other Jewish families, seemed to try to "fit in" wherever they went. It seems to me they didn't lose themselves but they immersed themselves in the local culture and made a home wherever they went." That sounds like the Netsuke "family," doesn't it, Marcie?
I'd like to do a follow-up of the Ephrussi family - the de Waals, if that's possible. To learn what sort of feed-back the author has been getting for this book.
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Joan P asked "Should the Netsuke collection have remained in Japan?"
In my opinion, the answer is a definitive no.
The reason is that if they had remained in Japan, they would have been "just another Netsuke collection". Whereas in changing venues we have "THE NETSUKE collection". A thing of wonder and beauty that draws in all who see it. Thus in a foreign land the figurines get much interest and attention as well as bringing the beauty and workmanship of Japan to foreigners.
This collection and it's history has given us a never to be forgotten book and story.
A new world has been revealed to us all.
Thank you little figurines. Thank you Edmund deWaal.
Thank you Joan P and Marcie.
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"Thank you little figurines. Thank you Edmund deWaal.
Thank you Joan P and Marcie. "
And all the rest of you who have made this such a great discussion.
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This has been such a great discussion, I hate to see it end. Whether or not he meant to, de Waal has succeeded in bringing us into his family. As he was searching, so too were we. That may be a little overstated, but I think you all know what I mean.
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Thank you all for your great interest and participation in talking about this book. I would have never found it without you. I've gotten so much more from it because of your questions and thoughts.
There is a very good article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/12/edmund-waal-life-profile-interview.
It seems that he knows that all of our questions are not going to be answered in the book.
De Waal says: "One thing is exploring repetition. This isn't just to do with visual rhythm being revealed. It's also to do with repetition as longing, with not being able to find closure." And both his book and his installations are fascinated with what's hidden or discovered only gradually."
Also, it sounds like he is working on another book: "He says, carefully, that the follow-up to The Hare with Amber Eyes will also concern itself with "memory and place", and that it'll take five years."
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Thank you Marcie - and everyone who contributed. You made the conversation hummm! It was a pleasure to come in each morning to see what nuggets you picked up on. I really don't think there was much that got by us, that went over our heads, do you?
That was a revealing article, Marcie. Thank you for bringing it to us. I especially liked idea of de Waal's finding things - and changing his mind... I felt that when reading the Coda at the end.
"It was hard work "to find a voice to inhabit the experience of finding things out and really changing your mind", but this contributes to the book's sense of intimacy – the reader is carried along by De Waal's responses to a series of revelations."
And I also liked reading that we will hear more from him in the future - thought he'd go back and lose himself in his little pots. Let's make a date to reconvene right here when that new book is published?
Thanks again - to all of you.
ps Olle - will meet you in the Archives in the coming weeks... :D
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I've gone on to read A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead. I thought I'd just quote a few lines in regard to France and the Jews prior to 1940. It lends a little more background.
...there were a little more than 300,000 Jews in France as of 1940, of which only half were France nationals, the rest having arrived as a result of waves persecution across Europe.
At the time of the 1789 revolution, France had been the first country to emancipate and integrate its Jews as French citizens. All through the 1920s and 1930s the country had never distinguished between its citizens on the basis of race or religion.
As soon as the Germans arrived (within weeks according to Moorehead), that all changed.
I can see why France had become a popular place for emigres and why the Ephrussi family felt integrated into the society there. It also tells me that it was not uncommon to keep ones citizenship as a national of another country. Family members who grew up in France may have brought this feeling and expectations of being integrated into society to Vienna with them. Vienna may have been similar, but I detected an undercurrent of antisemitism in both countries regardless of the official government stance.
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Thanks, Joan, for all of the work you did to facilitate this discussion. I look forward to de Waal's new book (in five years!)
Thanks for that interesting "coda" Frybabe.