Balloon Top

by Nobuko Albery

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394501462
• ISBN13: 9780394501468
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 255 Pages

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Novel!

In "Balloon Top", Ms. Albery provides an xceptional view of post-WWII Japan as seen through the eyes of Kanaka "Kana" Toda, who was a small child during the war. Kana was raised in a well-to-do traditional Japanese family, suffering from malnutrition and poor conditions during the war but regaining their status in the following years. Kana is a shy, reserved girl with a sickly constitution--delicate, I suppose--but lacks nothing in the way of personal strength and willpower. She is very bright, attending the top ladies' college in Japan before testing into the prestigious Waseda College in Tokyo. There the sheltered girl discovers the raging communist movement when she joins a progressive theater group. The last 1/4 of the book covers her struggle to shed her bourgeois upbringing and embrace communism. This is a powerful story, well-written and very believable. Flavored heavily with authentic Japanese philosophy and lifestyle, it really bridges a gap between Western and Eastern viewpoints. I really recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story.