This book is a treasure: "The Twilight World" by Werner Herzog (yes, that Werner Herzog) translated by Michael Hofmann, Penguin Press 2022. In 1997, Herzog is in Tokyo to direct an opera. His hosts asked if he would like to meet the emperor. Much to his regret, and to the astonished embarrassment of his hosts, he declines. When asked if there was anyone in Japan he would like to meet, he replied "Hiroo Onoda."
Onoda was the last Japanese soldier to lay down arms, not surrendering until March 1974 but continuing to defend a small island in the Philippines. From that meeting, the germ of the novel sprouted. At times with poetic prose, Onoda's 29-year trial of survival, duty and honor is described.
Thomas Hayes, Big Lake, Minn.
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