Everything about The Cabinet makes it sound like the perfect kind of book for me: it sounds monumentally quirky, and seems to be told in short story-iEverything about The Cabinet makes it sound like the perfect kind of book for me: it sounds monumentally quirky, and seems to be told in short story-ish format. I mean, look at this line from the introduction:
"All the information contained in the novel has been manufactured, modified, or distorted in some way, and should not be used as evidence in any argument, be it in a respected academic journal or a heated bar fight."
That's fun! But what you get, is a book about the person looking after the Cabinet, and very few actually quirky stories. And the man looking after the Cabinet isn't a very interesting character.
"There’s Xin Tiandi who lives in Hong Kong and eats glass. In fact, not only does he eat glass, he eats nothing but glass. Xin Tiandi’s existence has led some scientists to claim that there are special calories in glass – calories humankind has yet to discover."
The few strange stories you do get, are inventive and interesting, and I wish there were more of them. There is an overarching story about the mysterious Cabinet, but it's not very thrilling.
The book teases the reader with possiblities, but ends up as a collection of missed opportunities.
(Thanks to Angry Robot for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley)...more
Loading...
