The book is based on the life of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier, stationed in Lubang during World War II, who refused to surrender until 1974.
Except for The Twilight World, books published by Herzog have been diaries (Of Walking in Ice, Die Eroberung des Nutzlosen) and a memoir (Every Man for Himself and God against All, 2022).
[1] Although based on real events, The Twilight World is the first of his books not focused on Herzog's personal experience; it may be considered his first novel.
[2][3] The book has received positive critical response, with reviews in Die Zeit,[4] The New York Times[5] (that dedicated two articles to the publication[6]), The Wall Street Journal[7] and The Guardian,[2] among others.
A review in Die Welt, however, found that "sentimentality was never far from this story", regretting the lack of ethic distance from Onoda's deeds during the war, but adding: "So poetry is reactionary.