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The Museum of Unconditional Surrender

By Dubravka Ugresic
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Brief Description
An unflinching, absurdly funny portrait of life in exile by one of the greatest Yugoslav writers ‘In the end life is reduced to a heap of random, unconnected details. It could have been like this or like that, it's absolutely immaterial.’ A pink cigarette lighter, lollipop... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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An unflinching, absurdly funny portrait of life in exile by one of the greatest Yugoslav writers

‘In the end life is reduced to a heap of random, unconnected details. It could have been like this or like that, it's absolutely immaterial.’

A pink cigarette lighter, lollipop sticks, a beer-bottle opener: these are some of the contents of Roland the Walrus' stomach, displayed by his pool in Berlin Zoo. These objects, like the reflections, dreams and diary entries that make up this novel, at first appear to be unconnected. But, underpinned by both quiet tragedy and humour, the fragments soon coalesce to reveal the shattered world of a life in exile.

Here Dubravka Ugrešić wades through the wreckage of war as the everyday objects in her metaphorical museum take on new meaning to make sense of displacement, ageing and loss. Written in the aftermath of the break-up of Yugoslavia, The Museum of Unconditional Surrender is a haunting meditation on the weight of the past and the fractured collections of memories that define us all.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241805688

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 November 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Celia Hawkesworth

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 238g

Pages: 304

Collections

Dubravka Ugresic European History Fiction General Fiction History & Archaeology History & Military Literary Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

Plt;bPgt;Dubravka Ugresic (Author) Plt;/bPgt;Plt;brPgt; Plt;bPgt;Dubravka UgreP#353;ic Plt;/bPgt;was born in 1949 in the former Yugoslavia and lived in Amsterdam. The author of several novels and volumes of essays that have been translated into over thirty languages, she was the winner of several major literary prizes including the 1998 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2016 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. She was shortlisted for her entire body of work for The Man Booker International Prize 2009. She died in 2023.Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;Plt;bPgt;Celia Hawkesworth (Translator) Plt;/bPgt;Plt;brPgt; Plt;bPgt;Celia HawkesworthPlt;/bPgt; translates from the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. Among her award-winning translations are works by Dubravka UgreP#353;ic, Ivo Andric and DaP#353;a Drndic.Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;

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