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othersociologist's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Suicide
abbyarm's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Suicide
Minor: War
scifi_rat's review
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Plot: 3.75★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/4.5★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 3.75★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/4.5★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 3.75★
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Grief, Suicide, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Cursing, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Cancer, and Animal death
kinddog2073's review
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
A bizarre book to be sure. There is some interesting and at times poignant commentary about capitalism and alienation as others have noted. There are also some very funny and human moments. Despite that, I think this would have been better as a collection of short stories with the narrator's personality and life filled subtly through the telling of those. Instead, we get weird moments of plot that feel like distractions from the stories of the symptomers, which are so often funny or touching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Bullying, Suicide, and Grief
jaimeeslitlife's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"There is no moral of the story - that's the moral of the story."
“These things are recorded simply because they just are. Not because they are magnificent or beautiful, but because they exist beside us.”
In THE CABINET, stories of symptomers (people who have biologically metamorphosed in surreal ways) are juxtaposed against the story of Kong Deok-geun, an office worker whose life is full of I-would-rather-eat-dog-treats-than-suffer-this-boredom boredom. Deok-geun is a passive, unenthusiastic narrator who seems to be swept along by his story instead of writing it himself. What starts as a boredom-fueled break-in to an exceedingly ordinary cabinet that holds the symptomers' files turns into a bizarre and potentially lethal ride from which Deok-geun makes no real attempt to escape. There was something so intensely human about the way Deok-geun ignored the absurdities happening in the world around him, pushing them away and minimizing them until they forced him to pay attention. Instead of putting off a dentist appointment, however, Deok-geun puts off thinking about the potential consequences of his interactions with the symptomers.
THE CABINET defies convention just as much as the symptomers do. It is darkly humorous and upbeat, but also disturbing on a visceral level. Dry humor and a touch of whimsy mingle with body horror and intense satire of capitalist office culture. Absurd science fiction vignettes meet the absurdity of reality. THE CABINET is a fascinatingly weird little book that deserves its own special place in the world of fiction.
“These things are recorded simply because they just are. Not because they are magnificent or beautiful, but because they exist beside us.”
In THE CABINET, stories of symptomers (people who have biologically metamorphosed in surreal ways) are juxtaposed against the story of Kong Deok-geun, an office worker whose life is full of I-would-rather-eat-dog-treats-than-suffer-this-boredom boredom. Deok-geun is a passive, unenthusiastic narrator who seems to be swept along by his story instead of writing it himself. What starts as a boredom-fueled break-in to an exceedingly ordinary cabinet that holds the symptomers' files turns into a bizarre and potentially lethal ride from which Deok-geun makes no real attempt to escape. There was something so intensely human about the way Deok-geun ignored the absurdities happening in the world around him, pushing them away and minimizing them until they forced him to pay attention. Instead of putting off a dentist appointment, however, Deok-geun puts off thinking about the potential consequences of his interactions with the symptomers.
THE CABINET defies convention just as much as the symptomers do. It is darkly humorous and upbeat, but also disturbing on a visceral level. Dry humor and a touch of whimsy mingle with body horror and intense satire of capitalist office culture. Absurd science fiction vignettes meet the absurdity of reality. THE CABINET is a fascinatingly weird little book that deserves its own special place in the world of fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Body horror, Violence, Torture, and Body shaming
Moderate: Sexism, Self harm, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Vomit and Medical content
fox_at_the_circus's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
My favourite part of this book were all the different abilites the "symptomers" have, I would have loved to see even more of them. Most of them I haven't seen in any other media, and the book really focuses on how those abilites make living life in our current society (more) difficult. In general, the book talks a lot about understanding each other's hardships and being more kind.
The beginning of the book is more of a introdcution to different "symptomers", the plot itself picks up in the second half and then in the end suddenly everything happens very fast. The ending was a twist for me, and I think it works well. It's very open though, and there are many open questions, which does work with the overall book atmosphere and tone, but I also like seeing things finished.
The main character is pretty interesting, not super likeable, but he works in the book.
The beginning of the book is more of a introdcution to different "symptomers", the plot itself picks up in the second half and then in the end suddenly everything happens very fast. The ending was a twist for me, and I think it works well. It's very open though, and there are many open questions, which does work with the overall book atmosphere and tone, but I also like seeing things finished.
The main character is pretty interesting, not super likeable, but he works in the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Torture
Minor: Sexism, Death, and Suicide
clalaure's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Violence
unboxedjack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Death, and Violence
Minor: Rape
elekid's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
emilyinherhead's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Cabinet is a truly bizarre novel. It follows Mr. Kong, a bored office worker who stumbles into a job as assistant to Professor Kwon and keeper of Cabinet 13, a file of information about "symptomers." Symptomers are people with physical abnormalities or strange experiences, like a gingko tree growing from a finger, or a doppelganger, or the strong desire to become a cat for the sake of love. Mr. Kong spends his days reading over these records, keeping them organized, and answering phone calls from symptomers.
The book alternates between chapters about symptomers and other faux history and miscellany (there's a warning at the beginning that "all the information contained in this novel has been manufactured, modified, or distorted in some way and should not be used as evidence in any argument, be it in a respected academic journal or a heated bar fight"), and chapters about Mr. Kong in the present day.
While I was wildly entertained by the oddity of the symptomers and the ridiculous phone calls Mr. Kong receives, I also wondered at first where the narrative as a whole was headed. Then, toward the end, the plot takes an unexpected turn and becomes quite dark—I wasn't ready! And I'm still not sure if I liked it?
The transition from pretty lighthearted absurdity to grostesque thematic gravity caught me off guard, but I think it works. It for sure kept me turning pages. And the last sentence will be on my mind for a while. At the end I was left questioning what was real and how we as humans are affected by unfulfilling jobs and lives.
Aside from some disappointing fat phobia and some unexpected body horror, I enjoyed The Cabinet. I'm looking forward to discussing it with some friends who are also reading it; it will undoubtedly make for a spirited conversation.
The book alternates between chapters about symptomers and other faux history and miscellany (there's a warning at the beginning that "all the information contained in this novel has been manufactured, modified, or distorted in some way and should not be used as evidence in any argument, be it in a respected academic journal or a heated bar fight"), and chapters about Mr. Kong in the present day.
While I was wildly entertained by the oddity of the symptomers and the ridiculous phone calls Mr. Kong receives, I also wondered at first where the narrative as a whole was headed. Then, toward the end, the plot takes an unexpected turn and becomes quite dark—I wasn't ready! And I'm still not sure if I liked it?
The transition from pretty lighthearted absurdity to grostesque thematic gravity caught me off guard, but I think it works. It for sure kept me turning pages. And the last sentence will be on my mind for a while. At the end I was left questioning what was real and how we as humans are affected by unfulfilling jobs and lives.
Aside from some disappointing fat phobia and some unexpected body horror, I enjoyed The Cabinet. I'm looking forward to discussing it with some friends who are also reading it; it will undoubtedly make for a spirited conversation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Suicide