Reviews

캐비닛 by Un-su Kim, 김언수

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poetskings's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

fell apart in part 3, but up to that a really enjoyable book with a really nice tone

savvystory's review against another edition

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4.0

Now this is a weird book! I thought it was going to be about all the stories of symptomers in the cabinet. It was more about the narrator, existential dread, and how life is kind of pointless. My favorite parts were when they showed that the symptomers aren’t the weird ones, people living in late stage capitalism are.

“The following is a piece taken from the Center for a Leisurely Life: Statistically, there are probably 800 times as many time skippers as there are normal people. So don't work so hard. Don't make so many plans. Don't struggle so hard just to be more successful than others. Otherwise, you'll lose so much time. And wouldn't that be unfair? Like dying-in-a-car-accident-the-day-you-paid-off-your-house-loan kind of unfair?
The only way to save up time is to take it easy. Take menstrual leave. Take it every month. Miss a deadline once in a while! And if your boss asks you if you're going to take a bonus in exchange for less holiday, just say, "Fuck you." And on days you feel down, why not just take an absence without calling in?”

kathrinelar's review against another edition

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2.5

De sidste 20 sider var gode. Men meget mærkelig bog

the_alexeli's review against another edition

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4.0

I can't even really tell you why, I just really enjoyed this book. Could not stand the few instances of fat shaming that can sadly be found in older books by Korean authors.

dannyclarke's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

stephen_baird's review against another edition

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4.0

I received this in a package from Angry Robot Books and was so pleased as I was hearing about this on the Internet quite a bit.

After a couple of false starts I settled in to read this wonderful piece of speculative fiction about ‘Symptomers’ - people who may or may not be on the route to evolutionary differentiation, and Kong Deok-geun who becomes the custodian of the case files which are kept in Cabinet-13 at a very enigmatic research institute in South Korea.

A twisty tale, full of enigmatic stories that seem to come from mythologies not yet written, full of pathos but a pathos tinged with voyeurism as you discover the qualities that the various Symptomers display.

Through these tales is woven the life and thoughts of the custodian, Kong. Reminiscing on how he became the custodian and his interactions with other characters and how he becomes embroiled with ‘The Syndicate’.

As I came closer to the end I had become invested in these stories and what I thought was going to be a possible outcome for the book only to be derailed in the most fantastic way.

A compulsive read with a well thought out and developed world, look out for this on the 12th October 2021.