In 1897, three adventurers gather to do what others have tried and failed to do - navigate their balloon, The Prinzess, to the North Pole and return. As they voyage, the narrator, Major Gustav Crispin, is haunted by thoughts of the beautiful, impetuous Luisa.The story is a deliciously entertaining mix of adventure, sexual intrigue, philosophy and science. Harris based his story on an actual attempt by three Swedish explorers to reach the pole by balloon in 1897.MacDonald Harris wrote The Balloonist in the 1970s and it was published with huge acclaim in 1976. Indeed it was runner-up in the National Book Award fiction prize the following year. Then, in the 1980s, it disappeared into obscurity and remained there until Philip Pullman sang its praises in The Observer in 2008.
- ISBN10 1743430620
- ISBN13 9781743430620
- Publish Date 1 July 2012 (first published 1 January 1976)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 7 February 2023
- Publish Country AU
- Publisher Allen & Unwin
- Imprint A & U House of Books
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 242
- Language English