Community Corner
BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP READS THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES BY EDMUND DE WAAL
The Springfield Free Public Library's
(Really Good) Book Discussion Group will meet on Thursday, October 3 at
7 p.m. to discuss The Hare
with Amber Eyes by Edmund de
Waal. Edmund de Waal is a world-famous ceramicist. Having spent
thirty years making beautiful pots—which are then sold, collected, and handed
on—he has a particular sense of the secret lives of objects. When he inherited
a collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke, he
wanted to know who had touched and held them, and how the collection had
managed to survive.
And so begins this extraordinarily moving
memoir and detective story as de Waal discovers both the story of the netsuke
and of his family, the Ephrussis, over five generations. A nineteenth-century
banking dynasty in Paris and Vienna, the Ephrussis were as rich and respected
as the Rothchilds. Yet by the end of World War II, when the netsuke were hidden
from the Nazis in Vienna, this collection of very small carvings was all that
remained of their vast empire.
Discussions take place at 7 p.m. in the Palmer Museum. Refreshments are
served. New members are welcome. To reserve your copy of the book call
973-376-4930 x229 or send an e-mail: questions@sfplnj.org.