The Twilight World cover art

The Twilight World

A Novel

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of 900K+ titles.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto-renews for $8.99/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Twilight World

Written by: Werner Herzog, Michael Hofmann - translator
Narrated by: Werner Herzog
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $19.11

Buy Now for $19.11

About this listen

 “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. 20th Century Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Solider War Biography
All stars
Most Relevant
This is a fantastic and captivating story. Werner Herzog is amazing. Would definitely recommend this.

Amazing listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A remarkable story, written and read by a man uniquely gifted to see and share the twilight world of Hiroo Onoda.

Magnificent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.