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ishouldreadthat 's review for:
The Cabinet
by Un-su Kim
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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I've been looking for more translated fiction to read, and The Cabinet caught my eye. This was a really interesting read -- a book that juxtaposes the strange and unusual sides of humanity with the mundane and familiar.
This book feels like two in one: one part of this book is a series of anecdotes from symptomers, people who display strange abilities or attributes that show the potential emergence in a new stage of humanity. I absolutely adored these strange stories -- they were thought-provoking, unusual, and often quite playful and sweet in the way they were written. From a man who desperately wants to turn into a cat to win the love of a woman to people who fall into a deep and undisturbed sleep for months or years of their lives, I could read a whole book just made up of the symptomers' tales. For me, the symptomers were the stars of this book.
The other half of the book tells the story of Deok-Geun, the bored office worker who stumbles upon this curious cabinet and is charged with all the admin, including fielding calls from symptomers. I really enjoyed the first half of his story -- he is a very ordinary man who has had strange and unusual experiences himself -- but it went in a very strange and violent direction toward the end that felt a little out of left field. To me, a Western reader, the book felt a little unbalanced, but that could honestly be a difference in storytelling that I am just unfamiliar with. Regardless, I really enjoyed The Cabinet, and at times had trouble putting it down.
The Cabinet is a book that is strange and unusual, but worth a read, especially if you're interested in Korean fiction.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
CW: quite graphic torture
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I've been looking for more translated fiction to read, and The Cabinet caught my eye. This was a really interesting read -- a book that juxtaposes the strange and unusual sides of humanity with the mundane and familiar.
This book feels like two in one: one part of this book is a series of anecdotes from symptomers, people who display strange abilities or attributes that show the potential emergence in a new stage of humanity. I absolutely adored these strange stories -- they were thought-provoking, unusual, and often quite playful and sweet in the way they were written. From a man who desperately wants to turn into a cat to win the love of a woman to people who fall into a deep and undisturbed sleep for months or years of their lives, I could read a whole book just made up of the symptomers' tales. For me, the symptomers were the stars of this book.
The other half of the book tells the story of Deok-Geun, the bored office worker who stumbles upon this curious cabinet and is charged with all the admin, including fielding calls from symptomers. I really enjoyed the first half of his story -- he is a very ordinary man who has had strange and unusual experiences himself -- but it went in a very strange and violent direction toward the end that felt a little out of left field. To me, a Western reader, the book felt a little unbalanced, but that could honestly be a difference in storytelling that I am just unfamiliar with. Regardless, I really enjoyed The Cabinet, and at times had trouble putting it down.
The Cabinet is a book that is strange and unusual, but worth a read, especially if you're interested in Korean fiction.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
CW: quite graphic torture