Name: The Ministry of Pain
ISBN: 9780060825843

Dubravka Ugresic

Forced into exile by the breakup of Yugoslavia, Tanja Lucic seeks sanctuary in the Department of Slavonic Language at the University of Amsterdam, where she and her fellow displaced students struggle to confront memories of their homeland.

The Ministry of Pain

Trever

I almost gave this a 4.5 but I can't; it's just too goddamn depressing. If you want to hype yourself up to dying, read this.

Seriously, though, Ugrešić is a talented, thought-provoking writer, and this is a book in the post-postmodern (for lack of a better term) tradition. She is, quite understandably, goom-and-doom, quite much for my taste, but this is, for sure, a worthwhile book.

Just take it lightly.