The Twilight World

A Novel

By: Werner Herzog, Michael Hofmann - translator

Narrated by: Werner Herzog

“A potent, vaporous fever dream; a meditation on truth, lie, illusion, and time that floats like an aromatic haze through Herzog’s vivid reconstruction of Onoda’s war.” —The New York Times Book Review

The national bestseller by the great filmmaker Werner Herzog.

The great filmmaker Werner Herzog, in his first novel, tells the incredible story of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who defended a small island in the Philippines for twenty-nine years after the end of World War II

In 1997, Werner Herzog was in Tokyo to direct an opera. His hosts asked him, Whom would you like to meet? He replied instantly: Hiroo Onoda. Onoda was a former soldier famous for having quixotically defended an island in the Philippines for decades after World War II, unaware the fighting was over. Herzog and Onoda developed an instant rapport and met many times, talking and unraveling the story of Onoda’s long war.

At the end of 1944 on Lubang Island, with Japanese troops about to withdraw, Onoda stayed behind under orders from his superior officer. For years, Onoda continued to fight his fictitious war—at first with other soldiers, and then, finally, alone, a character in a novel of his own making.

In The Twilight World, Herzog immortalizes and imagines Onoda’s years of absurd yet epic struggle in an inimitable, hypnotic style—part documentary, part poem, and part dream—that will be instantly recognizable to fans of his films. The result is a novel completely unto itself: a glowing, dancing meditation on the purpose and meaning we give our lives.

This is a great book, wonderfully read

There is no one in the world like Werner Herzog. His voice is so unique and expressive and this is exactly his kind of story. A great pleasure to listen to this tale.

Top ten anime anti heros

Fascinating book, written and read by my favorite anime hearthtrob Verner hertzog. Just wish it was longer but it’s short and sweet.

Truly enthralling

This is the only way to make the book better is to have been read it by the author himself. A truly magnificent masterpiece

In Our World Full Of Know It Alls… There Is So Much We Don’t Know

After reading this I realized I knew very little about what it truly means to be honorable.

Immersive and captivating

A beautiful vignette of a rare moment in time and history. Onoda had to be full of both purpose and hubris to stick to the plan so perfectly. A testament to the Japanese WW2 mindset.