Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

캐비닛 by Un-su Kim, 김언수

8 reviews

ginbat's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, and Excrement

Torture at the very end but it’s pretty hardcore:

main character gets his fingers and toes cut off

bullying a gal from the middle and on about her being ugly/quiet/fat

scifi_rat's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

rossram1621's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A book about finding both hope in suffering, and misery in mundaety. I adored each of the files, each person with a creatively unique story that truly made me see the world a little bit differently. 

The A storyline was a lot less interesting to me than the files themselves. It started strong, but lost some solidity toward the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape

flamesocks's review against another edition

funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kinddog2073's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Torture

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

jaimeeslitlife's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit and Medical content

irodori_megu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

sidneyreads_'s review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Torture

Minor: Kidnapping and Alcohol