Customer Reviews

Now You're One of Us

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Noriko Hashimoto's reservations about marrying Kazuhito and joining the Shito household -- complete with siblings, parents, grandparents, and his great-grandmother -- are quickly dispelled by the sunny, welcoming personalities the family members display. To an unnatural degree, the family members embrace Noriko, viewing her as a "treasure" who will, in some unspoken way, be the family's salvation. Noriko is puzzled but flattered; she soon joins in the family's routines. All seems well until an old ice vendor tries to warn Noriko about the family, only to be interrupted by Noriko's mother-in-law before he can voice his concerns. When the ice vendor and his family die in an explosion, Noriko begins to suspect that the Shito family is not as perfect as it seems. A friend in whom she confides tells her: "You haven't married into money, you've married into a swamp of madness."

But what sort of madness underlies the apparent perfection of this extended family? Are they criminals? Are they deviants, living apart from the social norms that Noriko has always accepted? Noriko feels alienated, in part because she doesn't share the family's unnatural closeness (to quote an ancient issue of Mad magazine, "the family that bathes together, stays together," an apt description of the Shitos). Noriko observes an apparent sexual flirtation between siblings that concerns her, even as the family members shrug off her objections to their lifestyle. From the beginning, Noriko is subjected to a form of brainwashing designed to transform her into a true Shito. Her attempt to share her concerns with a friend only results in a new round of confusion and trouble.

For most of the novel, Noriko is stifled in her effort to understand the Shitos, as is the reader. While the reader shares Noriko's suspicions about the family's true nature, Asa Nonami keeps the family's secret well hidden. When the truth is finally revealed, however, it seems both anti-climactic and beyond improbable. Moreover, while it is easy to empathize with Noriko's plight, I found it difficult to accept that the familial brainwashing would so completely transform her belief system.

As I've found to be true with other thrillers translated from Japanese, the writing style is straightforward but uninspired. Perhaps it was the plainness of the prose that kept me from becoming engrossed in the story. More likely it was my eventual realization that Nonami was driving toward a destination that scarcely seemed worth reaching. The story of the Shito family is odd but not particularly shocking (although perhaps it was so regarded in 1993 when the novel was first published in Japan) -- not a good outcome for a novel that clearly aspired to provoke gasps. In short, Now You're One of Us tells an interesting story but fizzles out with a disappointing ending that doesn't match the promise of the novel's first half. It is a significantly less successful novel than The Hunter, the only other novel by this popular Japanese writer that I've read.

A young Japanese woman, Noriko, marries into a wealthy family. They seem pleasant enough at first but as time goes on she begins to harbour some suspicions.

Secret family meetings in the middle of the night, a brother and sister who are a little too close and a mysterious explosion at a property they own killing the tenants inside.

It all seems a tad dodgy. But is she imagining it or does she really live with some sort of freaky family?

Every time she thinks she is getting closer to the truth the family are able to divert her or offer a perfectly plausible explanation. As the reader, you don't know if this is all in her head or not.

We do find out in the end of course, and the resolution is as unexpected as it is disturbing.

Now You're One of Us by Asa Nonami is the best Japanese novel I have read in quite a while. It has a great hook, zips along at a cracking pace and is genuinely quite chilling.

Asa Nonami has a talent for building up suspense.
The writing is well done, the characters are described well enough to draw you into the story so the ending has its affect on you.
This is a fast paced read and I look forward to trying another of her books.

I liked this book. It is quick paced and draws in the reader. A little creepy, but that's kinda the point.

I thought the book was very good! It was a very good thriller. I think it showed a perfect example of how people can become brainwashed and manipulated. The ending isn't what I would call a "happy" or "sad" ending. It's just how things go sometimes, much like reality.

I've read translations for other japanese authors like miyabe and karino, but this one just seemed to have dumbed down the story. it was not engaging at all, and for this story to have won awards in japan, it just makes me thing that the way it was translated ruined the book. or its just a bad book, i don't know. i did not enjoy it at all. it is not really creepy or scary, its just a long drawn out suspense, with little pay off at the end. the big secret wasn't really shocking or grotesque, it is just alluded to, and very disappointing.

Not twisted in a good way, just disgusting. The ending is revolting, shocking, but, not in a good way. Waste of 6 hours.