The Museum of Unconditional Surrender
Will be published approx. on 5. November 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-241-80568-8 (ISBN)
Description
'A writer to cherish' Susan Sontag
'The story of a shattered life can only be told in bits and pieces'
A pink cigarette lighter, lollipop sticks, a beer-bottle opener: these are some of the contents of Roland the Walrus's stomach, displayed in the Berlin Zoo. As our narrator wanders the city, she recalls the objects and memories, dreams and reflections that make up her life - a photo album, a recipe, a fleeting love affair - as they connect to reveal the fractured reality of being an exile.
Written in the aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia, The Museum of Unconditional Surrender is a quietly profound, absurdly humorous meditation on displacement, yearning and the weight of the past.
'The story of a shattered life can only be told in bits and pieces'
A pink cigarette lighter, lollipop sticks, a beer-bottle opener: these are some of the contents of Roland the Walrus's stomach, displayed in the Berlin Zoo. As our narrator wanders the city, she recalls the objects and memories, dreams and reflections that make up her life - a photo album, a recipe, a fleeting love affair - as they connect to reveal the fractured reality of being an exile.
Written in the aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia, The Museum of Unconditional Surrender is a quietly profound, absurdly humorous meditation on displacement, yearning and the weight of the past.
Reviews / Votes
Dubravka Ugresic is a writer to be followed. A writer to cherish -- Susan Sontag The philosopher of evil and exile, and the storyteller of many shattered lives -- Charles Simic She wrote in a deeply melancholy vein as well as with adroit comic wit... an unusual mixture of Orwellian stringency and madcap lightness -- Marina WarnerMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
200 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-80568-8 (9780241805688)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Dubravka Ugresic
The Museum of Unconditional Surrender
E-Book
approx. 11/2026
Penguin
€8.99
Not yet available
Persons
Dubravka Ugresic (Author)
Dubravka Ugresic 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.
Celia Hawkesworth (Translator)
Celia Hawkesworth translates from the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. Among her award-winning translations are works by Dubravka Ugresic, Ivo Andric and Dasa Drndic.
Dubravka Ugresic 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.
Celia Hawkesworth (Translator)
Celia Hawkesworth translates from the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. Among her award-winning translations are works by Dubravka Ugresic, Ivo Andric and Dasa Drndic.