Monday, May 28, 2012
Hairy
Eleven days after my first notice, have now finished 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes' and very good it was too; it earns the various accolades which decorate the covers of this Vintage edition. Pleased that I have a signed copy (something which I am usually a bit sniffy about), sorry that I do not have a hardback with higher grade illustrations. But no doubt a charity shop will yield one before too long and in the meantime one can always go to http://www.edmunddewaal.com/ - where I find I like the man's book better than his pots. At least the ones which I have seen so far.
A fascinating story woven around a banking house, founded by a Russian Jew in Odessa, and the fine collection of netsuke built on some of the proceeds of said banking. One thread is the family, spreading through Europe and beyond, swept by the harsh tide of history. Another is a fascination with objects and their history and their possession. And then there is the fascination of a family which had entertained the likes of Proust and Renoir to tea. One member of which furnished some of the ingredients for Swann - although I wonder now whether balance should have included the Baron de Charlus here. The bad days for Jews in Austria, bad days which persisted after the second world war. I was reminded of a talk I once had about where duty lay for a person who had bought something valuable for cheap, in good faith, but which turned out to have been looted or stolen from a Jew at some point in its recent past. How odd it must be to stand in the street, look up at some grand building in Vienna and think that this grand building, now home to some banal company or other, was once the family home of some of one's great grandparents. What used to be a maid's room in the attic is now home to the first aid supplies mandated by the health and safety people.
The thought that anger with bankers is not new. If one had been ruined by the great depression, one might well be angry in the huge house of a rich banker stuffed with huge expense: antique furniture, old masters, gold pots, the lot. Wealth which had been sucked from the blood of honest workers. An agitator would not have to work that hard to work up my anger and outrage.
A regular treasure trove of insights into all kinds of odd and unexpected things. The hare might be the thread but there is a lot of ancillary material sticking to that thread.
Last week a further visit to http://www.ilponte.co.uk/ where we find that they have revived the tradition of the dinner dance, a formula which used to be common in country hotels - such as the one at end of Collumpton as you head out towards Exeter - when I was little and which was also adapted for use in night clubs both shiny and sleazy. So, the last Friday of each month (or some such) a bit of space is cleared in the middle of the restaurant for band and dancing and the bright and not so young gather in their finery to dance the night away - and some of the finery was very fine & skimpy too. Some male customers who were smartly turned out but who were not very comfortable being in a building and preferred to smoke outside; maybe more used to caravans. The result of all of which was that we had to take an outside table, a little cool but which gave a ringside view of the Friday evening goings on in Ebbisham Square. And quite a lot of it there was too, for example the contents of the nearby fitness club being turned out in their towels on account of a fire alarm. One can only suppose that they were not paying enough subs. to have someone on duty, on the spot, to turn the thing off. The only down side was that we made the mistake of going for food at the fancy end of their menu, without thinking that the kitchen would be struggling with the numbers. Stick to pizza and such like next time.
A fascinating story woven around a banking house, founded by a Russian Jew in Odessa, and the fine collection of netsuke built on some of the proceeds of said banking. One thread is the family, spreading through Europe and beyond, swept by the harsh tide of history. Another is a fascination with objects and their history and their possession. And then there is the fascination of a family which had entertained the likes of Proust and Renoir to tea. One member of which furnished some of the ingredients for Swann - although I wonder now whether balance should have included the Baron de Charlus here. The bad days for Jews in Austria, bad days which persisted after the second world war. I was reminded of a talk I once had about where duty lay for a person who had bought something valuable for cheap, in good faith, but which turned out to have been looted or stolen from a Jew at some point in its recent past. How odd it must be to stand in the street, look up at some grand building in Vienna and think that this grand building, now home to some banal company or other, was once the family home of some of one's great grandparents. What used to be a maid's room in the attic is now home to the first aid supplies mandated by the health and safety people.
The thought that anger with bankers is not new. If one had been ruined by the great depression, one might well be angry in the huge house of a rich banker stuffed with huge expense: antique furniture, old masters, gold pots, the lot. Wealth which had been sucked from the blood of honest workers. An agitator would not have to work that hard to work up my anger and outrage.
A regular treasure trove of insights into all kinds of odd and unexpected things. The hare might be the thread but there is a lot of ancillary material sticking to that thread.
Last week a further visit to http://www.ilponte.co.uk/ where we find that they have revived the tradition of the dinner dance, a formula which used to be common in country hotels - such as the one at end of Collumpton as you head out towards Exeter - when I was little and which was also adapted for use in night clubs both shiny and sleazy. So, the last Friday of each month (or some such) a bit of space is cleared in the middle of the restaurant for band and dancing and the bright and not so young gather in their finery to dance the night away - and some of the finery was very fine & skimpy too. Some male customers who were smartly turned out but who were not very comfortable being in a building and preferred to smoke outside; maybe more used to caravans. The result of all of which was that we had to take an outside table, a little cool but which gave a ringside view of the Friday evening goings on in Ebbisham Square. And quite a lot of it there was too, for example the contents of the nearby fitness club being turned out in their towels on account of a fire alarm. One can only suppose that they were not paying enough subs. to have someone on duty, on the spot, to turn the thing off. The only down side was that we made the mistake of going for food at the fancy end of their menu, without thinking that the kitchen would be struggling with the numbers. Stick to pizza and such like next time.
# posted by Jim @ 11:42 PM 
