BOOK REVIEW: The Cabinet
The Cabinet written by Kim UnSu is a literary work of art that has won the Munhakdongne Novel Award in South Korea. The overall context of the novel revolves around the protagonist, Kong Deok-Geun, who works for a research facility studying bizarre anomalies that occur to strangers all around the world, also known as symptomers. One man develops a growth in his thumb which turns out to be a ginkgo tree. Another man wishes to turn into a cat for love while a woman's disappearance causes her to freeze in time while the world continues on without her. Each phenomenon becomes increasingly shocking as the book progresses. The narrative also explores the concept of life, philosophy, power, and politics through the parallelism of the symptomers and their unique struggles in the eyes of the prosaic protagonist, Mr. Kong.
The notion of the novel is intriguing, pivoting from strange spectacles to bureaucratic tension. The way the novel is written is like a savory dessert, the wide range of visualizations that balance with the poetry and plot tension is what makes this novel eclectic in its range. The bizarre analogies and metaphors used by the symptomers gives the audience a sense of unknown nostalgia and comfort when reading from the characters' perception. In the story, Mr. Kong is forced to ensure the security of cabinet 13 which holds all of the information and stories about the symptomers. The exploration of the cabinet also divulges into the concept of love, life, loss, and sacrifice each character experiences through the lens of a character who lives a mundane and cynical approach to life. Reading from Mr. Kong's point of view also allows readers to see the stories from a defeatist point of view and attain a different intake on life which becomes eye opening for both Mr.Kong and the audience. The novel is full of inspiring quotes and lessons taught by strangers living in bizarre circumstances, such as, a magician who eats glass and berates the human race for bringing darkness into the world or a woman who feels nothing for humans but complete love for cats. In the eyes of the symptomers, their symptoms gave them purpose to continue living life in the face of uncertainty and rejection, even in moments of hopelessness.
The narrative of the story is split between the perception of Mr.Kong and the symptomers, giving the audience insight into the main idea of the story, being anticapitalism according to Strange Horizons. The symptomers are unable to conform to society's expectations because of the obstacles they face due to their “symptoms.” Because of this, it hinders their ability to work or live normal lives, the inability to make a living while suffering unfateful consequences. For example, the woman who disappears, only to return in the same condition and age she disappeared in, is unable to keep a job or home because of how frequent her disappearances occur. Her symptoms prevent her from conforming to society's expectations by catering to a multimillionaire corporate job that expects her to live a normal life or try to be the best of the best, which hinders her ability to do the bare minimum such as paying rent or make a living. The world and her community only view her issues as an unfortunate inconvenience and consider her disappearance as a runaway.
The Cabinet harbors lots of depth through its exploration of one's life purpose, combined with intriguing political commentary. Not only does the novel include humor, but the storyline reveals questions about life, almost answering them with a simple thought. A personal favorite quote references the idea of empathy, “ People actually understand each other quite well. But it doesn't matter. People know you're lonely. In fact, they're just as lonely as you. But there is nothing they can do for you, right? That's why we become lonely. In the end, it means the same thing.” (Kim 240). This piece is poetically romantic in the sense that though people remain strangers we are all bound by the same sense of emotions even if it cannot be verbalized. Humility can connect strangers, it is only a matter of choice if we want to create an impact in a stranger's life. The question “but there is nothing they can do for you, right?” is a position we can apply to ourselves on both sides of the scenario. Help or be helped. In the political sense, governments and large corporations understand that civilians and workers struggle everyday to make a means of living. Powerful groups like these have the ability to conform to the civilians needs but instead choose to focus on the wellbeing of their own group, that being the wealthy and influential. We can either approach the lonely out of humility to create a change or be the lonely and only hope to be approached for a change.
