The Dice Man
by Luke Rhinehart
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Book Reviews of The Dice Man
Book Review: absolute genius
Summary: 5 Stars
Rhinehart's fictional autobiography of a psychiatrist who first explores radical new ways of approaching life in order to avoid sinking ever further into stagnant boredom, and then creates a cult movement out of the philosophical implications of the result, is simply a totally hysterical sendup of popular culture, the concept of psychotherapy, upper middle class values, and people's conception of the self. It is a novel of absolute genius.
The writing comes across as mildly intellectual, reflective, thoughtful and cultured, which soon makes the content and substance of what is written ironic, crazy funny, and subtly thoughtful. Diceliving as such is obviously a joke, but the reasons for considering it are not, and Rhinehart's treatment of the concept is screamingly funny while simultaneously letting the reader wonder if some variant, perhaps a 1% solution, wouldn't make life more interesting. The autobiography itself takes the man from complacent, bored and stuffy luxury to murder, madness, disrespect and to moral nullity...but he's living his bliss!
Leaving aside the philosophical implications of the book's central joke (it IS a joke, don't get hung up on it!), the rest of the novel's ups and downs are written so well, episodic thought they may be, that this reader laughed out loud for hours (particularly the cocktail party scene).
The book is so well conceived, so original, so funny, and such a successful sendup of the cultural conceits we live by, it deserves six stars.
Book Review: The Dice Man
Summary: 5 Stars
`The Dice Man' is a book that is extremely original and although at times it seems mildly deviant, uncomfortable and shocking, it is also very well written and has some funny moments that will make you laugh out loud. Following a New York psychiatrist who lets the throw of dice make decision for him this book quickly leads you into some unusual and unique places. The first 200 pages are probably the easiest to read and `enjoy' before Luke gets too deep into dice living and the slightly weirder and debauched aspects that entails. The details and reasons of dice living are explained very well and although you may not wish to pursue the ideals to quite the same degree, you can see the logic behind some of the avenues it leads the main character on. It has to be said that this book is probably loved and loathed in equal measures and has now become a cult classic. Written in the seventies, it has some wonderful comments on psychiatry and these are often the driest and wittiest segments in the book. This book is quite graphic and sexually explicit in places, but isn't too bad if you are used to modern fiction and mostly these parts are used to illustrate a point being made. If you are a fan of modern fiction and are willing to be challenged then this is a great book to read; it is hilarious with great dark humour, original and just shocking enough to keep you interested. If you enjoy this I heartily recommend the sequel `Search For the Dice Man' which is slightly less weird and easier to read.Book Review: The lunatics have taken over the asylum!
Summary: 4 Stars
Not a book to be taken too seriously, IMO, although it touches on some profound philosophical thoughts.
The Diceman of the title is a New York psychiatrist who, fed up with the repetitive routine of life, decides to subordinate the normal rules of society by allowing the throw of the dice to determine his actions. This results in much taboo breaking, and much sex and violence. It's also funny and shocking.
For me the novel comes out of the same stream of thought that brought us Catch 22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It asks us which of us are the sane ones; those that follow the rules our societies have laid down or those that opt out. Sometimes you have to wonder. It also poses us questions about the nature of existence, fatalism and responsibility.
There are holes; the options that the dice offer are determined by the thrower, which could result in some very anodyne choices; shall I drink tea, coffee or hot chocolate? The protagonists seem to have an unlimited supply of funds, and the need to earn a living rarely seems to crop up.
These are nitpicking though; it's not important for the main themes of the book.
Read and enjoy, but don't be too anal about it...
Book Review: 1 star is too much.
Summary: 1 Stars
The poor writing style in "The Dice Man" could be forgiven if the story had some value, you could overlook the writing style and concentrate on its message. Unfortunately this book is nothing but the confession of a talent-less attention seeker, an example of the, tragic defect, a need to seek out an external authority to follow and use as an excuse for ones own actions. In this case the chosen authority is not a god, the state, the family or mystery voice but the result of tumbling dice. Like all followers of an "authority" there is a strong need for them to encourage others to share their madness. We see this clearly as the author, a mediocre psychiatrist by his own confession, pushes his "dice living" on his friends and patients, opens dice centers even commits murder. We feel the result as we suffer through his writing in this book Verdict: Unskilled writing style worsened by the length of it. A book outlining the philosophy for a week mind. I laugh at the thought of anybody considering dice living seriously.
Book Review: A rare book that really should be read by everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
This book had been very highly recommended to me by friends. Nevertheless when I spotted it in a shop, I nearly didn't buy it because it had the words "this book will change your life" on the cover. Still, it was really VERY highly recommended by people whose literary judgement I could usually trust, so I swallowed my misgivings and bought it. It changed my life. Not in any major respects, but it left me with a feeling of freedom of choice and of action I hadn't experienced before. Besides which it is supremely darkly funny and sometimes outrageously so. It explores concepts of individuality and liberty and f*** this, just READ THE BOOK. Give not buying it 1 chance in 216 and keep rolling the dice till you get a yes. I have currently not seen my copy in about three years; it is permanently out on loan and generally comes back through about three or four intervening pairs of hands.