Scan barcode
scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/4.5★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 3.75★
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
flamesocks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Cursing, Torture, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Medical content
roytoo's review against another edition
- 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
The premise is:
'symptomers’, humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species.
The stories of symptomers were interesting and engaging, but they end about 2/3rds through.
To me it is well worth reading for the different (South Korean) cultural viewpoints on modern life and the idea that it could be causing evolution into a new species.
Content warning for eating disorders, body horror, body shaming, and torture.
I read this from the Digital Library of Korean Literature which permits anyone to make an account:
library.ltikorea.or.kr/aboutLibrary
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
mikarala's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Basically, Mr. Kong is a bored office worker who stumbles across some top-secret files kept by a researcher at his company on "symptomers", or people experiencing weird mutations or beliefs or something. These range from people with trees growing from their fingers to people who believe they're aliens to people who simultaneously live in two bodies. Although there is the skeleton of a plot, it's not really the main focus. Many chapters in this book simply describe Mr. Kong's odd encounters with these symptomers, often as a sort of mini-parable within the larger work. Sometimes the author is kind of hitting you over the head with very obvious lessons for modern life, such as the torperers who sleep for months and years because they've realized the importance of dreaming or the time skippers who realize how much time they've wasted obsessing over tedious work problems. Other times I'm not sure what the fuck the message is supposed to be, but it definitely contributes to the overall weirdness of this book.
Needless to say, I enjoyed the mindfuck. I think I'm going to be reflecting on the abruptness of the ending for a long time. While there were some elements I didn't really enjoy (some of the symptomer cases kinda gross me out, there's a torture scene, and I feel like there's some odd and not really necessary thoughts about penises), overall I have a very positive opinion of these kind of offbeat fairy tales for coping with life in the 21st century.
Graphic: Gore, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Torture
_kathill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body horror, and Body shaming
jaimeeslitlife's review against another edition
- 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
“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.
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
babayagaschickenlegs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Torture, Body horror, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
chocolate_pondue's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Torture and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping
rroake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Body horror
irodori_megu's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, Gore, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Violence, Fatphobia, Torture, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol