Short and Satisfying Book Club "The Twilight World"

117 S. Pineapple Ave.,Sarasota FL 34236

16 November, 2022

Description

The Short and Satisfying Book Club is for those looking for a shorter read that is ripe for discussion. November’s selection is The Twilight World, the great filmmaker Werner Herzog’s first novel that 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.We will meet in person at our new store location at 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $25 which includes a copy of The Twilight World to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.About The Twilight World: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 solider 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 would meet many times, talking for hours and together unraveling the story of Onoda’s long war. At the end of 1944, on Lubang Island in the Philippines, with Japanese troops about to withdraw, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda was given orders by his superior officer: Hold the island until the Imperial army’s return. You are to defend its territory by guerrilla tactics, at all costs. . . . There is only one rule. You are forbidden to die by your own hand. In the event of your capture by the enemy, you are to give them all the misleading information you can. So began Onoda’s long campaign, during which he became fluent in the hidden language of the jungle. Soon weeks turned into months, months into years, and years into decades—until eventually time itself seemed to melt away. All the while Onoda continued to fight his fictitious war, at once surreal and tragic, 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 sort of modern-day Robinson Crusoe tale: a glowing, dancing meditation on the purpose and meaning we give our lives. ............................................................................................................... All signed up and unable to go? Please let us know! Seating is limited and there may be people on our waitlist who would like to take your place. Please send an email to [email protected] ASAP and hopefully we'll see you next time. Click here to go to the Bookstore1Sarasota website.