Felt slightly longer than it maybe needed to be but this is one of the most fun and unexpected books I've read in quite a while. The fantasy side for me was a bit unexpected and this was so much fun!!! Mr Kong is a great lead. However, as always with most Korean writers, this happy exterior gives way to a dark undercurrent which in places is hard to read but gives the plot an added richness.

This was received as an ARC from Netgalley.

"You mean the age of humans is coming to an end?"
"Unfortunately. "
"That's so depressing. "

Our narrator is a caretaker for the mythical cabinet 13 where the world's true history is stored away. This "true history," is told to us in a selection of case files from the cabinet that detail the lives of humans who have mutated to the next step of evolution in one way or another. Our narrator is tasked with protecting the information within these files and tells us of hos struggle to keep them and his own self safe.

This was a wildly entertaining read. At first the stories seemed disjointed and had no real relation to the overall plot of the story. However, as we progress, and begin to learn more about the narrator's role, the case stories begin to make more sense. I highly recommend this twisted, funny, and sometimes sad tale!

So loved this book.
The Cabinet is a great story that is intriguing in its stories found in the hidden cabinet 13 at the research center. I found the cases of humans, especially the one with the ginkgo tree man interesting and while I know this was fiction, the way the writer wrote it, it felt so real.

Full disclosure, I got this as an ARC from NetGalley.

This was... unique, and somewhat frustrating. It felt like a dream, in that it was a series of semi-connected bizarrities that never really come together. I did overall enjoy it, but I kept finding myself looking for more.

Still, a solid recommendation for anyone looking for some literary weirdness.

A quirky interesting read in a year when surreal translations are the norm. This cabinet of the weird and askew was a wonderful chaser to the experience of reading Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur earlier this year.

this was an enjoyable book. i would understand why some people love it, but i found the narrative a little too trying-to-be-smart-and-wise. the storytelling is a little disjointed for my taste too. if you like quirky stories with morals to learn, this book might be up your alley.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This intriguing book started well, and I enjoyed the story of the man living in the high tower, and the snapshots of the symptomers. But as these continued, I found myself wondering where the book could go to tie these things together and come to some sort of resolution - and as I read on I began to think that the author had found that same thing himself, because it seemed to take a sudden sidestep and became a completely unconvincing tale of a shadowy group who stopped at nothing, including chopping off fingers and toes, to achieve a rather nebulous aim. Didn't work for me Im afraid.

An odd, intriguing novel that reads as a group of related anecdotes with a somewhat dissatisfying, open ended ending. The translation is a bit stilted, in the way East Asian language translations can often be. Would recommend for people who like odd little sci-fi stories but don’t aren’t as invested in character development or overall plot.

'The Cabinet' felt like reading an obscure collection of news clippings the author found and wove together through the voice of a overworked assistant in charge of collating those clippings. References to historical and pseudo-historical events are peppered throughout leaving the readers slightly disorientated, the perfect state to indulge in what the cabinet contains. There are elements that hark back to Un-su Kim's earlier book 'The Plotters' but all in all it is a different, more speculative and imaginative story to read. I'm sure there could be a thesis's worth of meaning and implications to uncover in this text about our world but from the surface level read that I enjoyed, it is enough for me.

Cabinet 13 is full of files on ‘symptomers’, humans with strange afflictions and abilities. It’s Professor Kwon’s life’s work but now it’s ordinary office worker Kong Deok-Geun’s responsibility to answer the symptomers’ calls and deal with their bizarre requests. Full of both comedy and gripping drama, The Cabinet is a quirky novel with plenty of commentary on capitalism, philosophy and extraordinary lives. It’s a very unique read that had me both laughing and holding my breath in equal measure.

I love surrealism! Typically, I'm not the first person to pick up a book that is longer than 320 pages long. This isn't by any means a tome at 400 pages, but it's not unheard of for me to not read a book simply because it's a bit longer and I have a hard time staying engaged the whole time. I didn't really have that problem with this one, though, I am pleased to report. Conceptually, it was just so unique and it really drew me in. This was fun and enchanting and weird, and I had a blast reading it. I will definitely be sharing it with my roommate, as it's just the kind of thing she'd be into!

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

This book is quite the ride. It's unpredictable every step of the way, leaving the reader curious for what's gonna happen next. It's immensely gripping. The writing itself is simple, but feels like the actual monologue inside one's head, in a way I haven't seen before, which made it even more interesting. I wasn't a fan of the ending, I didn't think it fit with the rest of the book, but I'm still very glad I got the opportunity to read it!

I didn't see the point of most of the stories. They were weird but creative nonetheless.
However I only enjoyed the first third of the book, after that I went into some darker directions I didn't much care for.

Thanks Netgalley and Angry Robot 🤖 for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

would have to say this is less a flowing story or character driven novel but more an interesting set of Vignettes that are all interconnected. Half of them focus around our MC Mr Kong who is a bored office worker who ends up being the keeper of Cabinet 13. The rest are little character profiles and short stories all based on the individuals who’s files are kept safe in Cabinet 13. They are thought to be the beginning on the next step of Human evolution and they are as weird and wonderful, yet still as utterly human as you would expect. The sections based round Mr Kong have a real depth to them, they explore depression, ennui, apathy and just the general day to day existence of life in a very detailed and subtle way. He isn’t an overly interesting character, he isn’t a hero in any way, he is just a man that was unsatisfied with his life and found interest in the strange tales of these others lives to only find himself managing there expectations as much as his own. The narrative voice is very free roaming and passive which I have found common in East-Asian translated works I have read. The story meanders and doesn’t feel like it has a destination, which if that is what you expect you will find enjoyment in regardless of it following ‘traditional’ western story structures or not.

I have to say the evolutionary science discussed at the beginning of the book is fantastically accurate even if the ‘evolutions’ themselves are somewhat bizarre. (I have a PhD in evolutionary biology) It was so interesting to see these real and recent scientific thinking intermingled with the fantastical elements of the story. The beginning of the book also contains the best allegory for chronic illness I have ever read. It perfectly captures the frustrations of trying to get a diagnosis, knowing more about your condition that any medical professional you encounter, trying to explain your condition to every medical professional you meet and justify the course of treatment/care, the constant arguments to access care/treatment that is required. I think this rings true in every medical system in the world and it those frustrations are perfectly described in this book.

The vignettes centred around the patients of Cabinet 13 take some really obscure yet interesting angles. There is a lot of ‘soft’ body horror aspects so I would be aware of that if you are not a fan of that kind of genre. But overall, they all tell tales of resilience, love, laughter and just loving yourself and who you are.

I enjoyed this book. I felt it was one of those books you could read a little section, put it down and then pick back up and explore another section with ease and without loosing the flow of the tale. I found myself picking it up and reading a chapter here and there over the course of several days and enjoyed that experience.

Liked the first half better than the second half where it kind of devolved into absurdism but lacked a sort of self-awareness somehow? It's a short book so definitely pick it up to read something quite inventive but the second half just kind of trails away from the quirks and charm of the first half.

A fascinating cross between a novel and a collection of short stories. Surrealism, magical realism and sarcasm touches both narrative threads, connecting them into a coherent and convincing story.

I absolutely loved Kong's story, witch to me is the main narrative. His story spoke to me in a way that only a person who has lived under an oppressive regime will understand. I loved the hilarious way in which the absurdity of his working life has been presented to the reader. The sarcasm is exquisite and I've found myself laughing out loud repeatedly. The decent of the narrative into brutality and yes, into the incomprehensible in a way, is reminiscent of the Soviet surrealism dealing with the communist tyranny.

I have seen the stories complied in the Cabinet 13 as a sort of supportive role(think about movie lingo), enhancing and explaining in many ways Kong's story. While I luxuriated in the phantasmagoria painted in this stories, I felt that at times it wasn't well balanced with the main narrative, resulting in a bit of boredom on my part.

All in all The Cabinet is a compelling read and Un-su Kim an interesting author that I would like to read again.

I really loved this novel. I'm a sucker for haunting/absurd novels about white-collar office life, and this fit that genre perfectly. (Other examples of the genre: Ling Ma's SEVERANCE, Helen Phillips's THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT.) I liked the narrator: exhausted, irritated, bored, baffled, yet reluctantly sympathetic. I liked the episodic nature of the novel, and how it itself mimicked the format of a file cabinet: splintered, yet with a common theme. I thought the themes of anxiety and futility under capitalism were very well done. Only the prose didn't quite do it for me – something about the narration felt a little ridiculous – but I suspect some element of that is due to the translation. I'd be interested to read another translation of this book at some point.

I've honestly never read a book quite like this one. Parts of it were deeply troubling and upsetting, while others felt filled with hope and so very human. It did feel a bit disjointed at times and I was often confused, but the premise and the way the events were carried out was truly fascinating. It was a fascinating exploration of people's desperate attempts to regain control in a capitalist world and many of the little vignettes of the symptomers added to the overall message (or lack thereof) of the story. Parts of the story felt lacking and I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the whole time, but it was still an enjoyable and really innovative read.

The eponymous Cabinet 13 holds the case studies of 'people with symptoms or just 'symptomers, people who are the first of a new, evolving species who "exist between the humans of today and the humans of the future - that is, they exist on the branch between species. They are both the last humans and the first of a new kind."

So, Cabinet 13 is "filled with so many records of extraordinary people ... 375 individual files: 375 examples of magic, 375 grievances, 375 bizarre, stubborn people".

This book is "a story about a new species, one that has been hitherto considered an abomination, a disease, a form of madness. It is a story about people who have suffered from the side effects of that evolution. A story about people who have been ensnared in a powerful and nameless magical spell, unable to receive insurance benefits, proper treatment, or counselling. A story about people who have been physically and mentally devastated, and who have willingly or unwillingly lived a lonely and melancholic life away from the rest of the world. A story about people who - because they exist in an intolerant scientific world that brands anything that exists beyond its microscope as mysticism and heresy - must shut themselves in a cramped room to live a hard life, never having anyone to call for help. This is a story about symptomers."

Within this overall narrative structure are the individual stories of the "wounded symptomers of this city" [Seoul], each with a back-story with its own internal logic, often pursued to surreal and fantastical extremes.

You may, after a little while reading this book, find that, like the narrator, "it's been a long time since I've lost the ability to differentiate between things I should believe and things I can't believe".

Overall, the book is a bit of a mixed bag. Some stories work, others don't. Worth trying out, though, if you like the weird and wonderful within the mundanity of the modern world.