Book Review: The Twilight World, a novel by Werner Herzog, translated by Michael Hofmann (2022)

Hardcover edition of Werner Herzog's novel The Twilight World, 2022.

 

The German film director Werner Herzog.

The German film director Werner Herzog is one of the great cult figures in 21^st century pop culture. An acclaimed director, both for his narrative films and his documentaries, Herzog is known in pop culture for his deadpan speaking voice and his bleak outlook on life. There is something mystical and otherworldly about Werner Herzog: he pulled Joaquin Phoenix out of a car crash. Herzog was once wounded by a bullet from an air-rifle during an interview, but he continued the interview.

Herzog has always been drawn to extreme circumstances in his films, so it’s not surprising that his first novel, The Twilight World, translated from German to English by Michael Hofmann, is about survival in the most extreme conditions. The Twilight World is about Japanese Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who fought a guerilla war on the Philippine island of Lubang from 1945 until 1974. Onoda and three other Japanese soldiers hid in the jungle hills after the Japanese retreat from the island. Onoda was the last survivor of the four soldiers. When Herzog was directing an opera in Japan in 1997, he turned down an invitation to meet the Emperor of Japan. “My goodness, I have no idea what I would talk about with the Emperor. It would be nothing but banalities.” “Well, if not the Emperor, whom would he like to meet?” Herzog instantly replied, “Onoda.” Of course.

You can’t quite imagine Werner Herzog making small talk at a gala with the Emperor, can you? I suppose Herzog might suffer through such an event. But it would be a form of torture for him. You might see him standing out on a balcony in his tuxedo and go over to him and say, “What a beautiful event.” Herzog smiles and nods, mutters “Thank you” through clenched teeth. It’s a beautiful spring evening, and you venture forth a comment on the pleasant weather. Herzog says, “Uh huh” in a noncommittal tone. Inside his head, Herzog is thinking “There is nothing more insufferable to me than the self-congratulatory world of entertainment. Why did I even agree to attend this meaningless social charade? And this person who is standing before me, talking about the weather…don’t they realize the brutality of this nature they are so effusively praising? At any moment, a gust of wind could come along and cause them to lose their balance and fall over the low railing of this balcony and they would be squashed like a tiny bug on the sidewalk.”

The Twilight World is a fascinating tale. I do not know enough about Onoda’s story to know how much is true and what was invented by Herzog. But does it really matter? The tale itself is so unbelievable that it sounds like a wild fiction concocted by a deranged novelist.

When I read about The Twilight World, I knew I wanted to experience it. Fortunately, Herzog himself narrates the English version of the audiobook, so I could have his distinctive voice and cadences seeping directly into my ear. I’ve been a fan of Herzog’s since the late 1990’s, when I watched several of his films for my high-school German class. You must admire someone who is enough of a lunatic to haul a steamship over a mountain for the sake of a film. Herzog’s low-key intensity behind the camera was amplified by the brilliant, intense German actor Klaus Kinski, who delivered stunning performances in films like Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. If you are a fan of Herzog’s, he will guide you into the jungle once again in The Twilight World.