Reviews with content warning for Death - 캐비닛

Reviews tagging 'Death'

캐비닛 by Un-su Kim, 김언수

10 reviews

applesodaperson's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I really wished that I liked this book more than I did, but overall it felt very disjointed. It look me a while to get the hang of this book, because it switched between vignettes of people with strange problems/abilities, and the main character's story, which is basically about him being an office worker and then working as the hotline guy for the strange people. The best way I can describe this is as if there was a book about someone running a hotline for the mutants in the x-men universe. Although I would say the powers in this are more niche and weird than the mutants in the x-men world.
My last thought about this book is I feel like it ended right as the actual plot started to happen and got interesting. I think that this book was trying to do too much at once. I think it should have chosen to be either a collection of short stories with the theme of the strange anomalies, or a novel about the main character.
Overall a meh book.
Read from the Spokane Library.

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suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition

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2.0

some interesting themes but there was a lot of fatphobia, and with the plot completely shifting in part 3, there really just didn’t seem to be a point by the end

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ginbat's review against another edition

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5.0

Maybe I’m being too generous with a 5/5, but even with the ending I’m just a sucker for a strange book, and this book was strange. Villa incognito vibes

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biobeetle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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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★

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chocolate_pondue's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book surprised me from beginning to end. It starts off very funny, lighthearted, and strange. It's the story of a man, Mr. Kong, who, through extraordinary yet mundane circumstances, becomes a secretary for someone who handles cases of humans dealing with strange phenomena. The writing style is very matter-of-fact despite the strangeness of the content, so it gives it adds a layer of magical realism to a story that constantly points out how unrealistic everything is. Mr. Kong fights this role he's in at every turn, considers the people he's helping a pain in his side, and relays their stories with disinterest. Yet somehow, he is still drawn to them and in turn, so are we. I loved reading this book. The individual stories were so interesting. Some were funny, some were sad, and some were just plain weird, but each one was told in this dull, imaginative voice that just kept me wanting more. I even enjoyed reading about his everyday life. Seeing these people through Mr. Kong's eyes and hearing their stories in his voice was engaging because I felt like a lot of the things he thought, I would have thought as well. Any normal human would have thought of them, and I really enjoyed that a lot.

I will say there are some things I wasn't very into. There is a lot of judgment for particular characters, a couple of which there are a lot of bullying, fatphobia, and body shaming. Having lived in South Korea for a bit, I understand the thin cultural layer around this, but it was still offputting because it's something that shouldn't happen to anyone, anywhere. The end definitely had a tone shift which I had to take a moment to appreciate. I was shaken when I finished because so much of the novel was light-heartedly that I didn't think it would end up where it did. But once I took a second to soal everything in, once again it was a realistic ending to an unrealistic situation. I couldn't think of another way it would have ended and still have been satisfying. It doesn't have a particular plot. It's very much like a slice of life/character study. So if you enjoy those types of novels and strange tales, I think you would really love this book.

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fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

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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.

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