The Dice Man

Rating:
Summary: Nice one but Wim's better
Review: I bought the book after having read 'The adventures of Wim'. I liked it but not so much as the other one. Wim alone is able get you thinking about why life is worth living. So, my review is partial but: what can I say? Make yourself a present: find 'The adventures of Wim' and you'll forget about the Dice Man.

Rating:
Summary: This book blew me away. Find it and read it.
Review: Picked this book up out of curiousity in '72 in Viet Nam. Read it cover to cover, riveted. It was amazingly powerful in its impact on my own outlook on fate and free will. This would rank near the top of my "desert island" books list. In fact, now that I'm reminded of it I've got to track it down for a reread.

Rating:
Summary: Goddam excellent
Review: Possibly the best book I have ever read - very amusing, pensive, witty and intelligently written.
Certainly makes you think about life values!

Also worth reading: The return of the dice man

Buy it now! (and I don't even work for a book company)


Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I read this book while in Tasmania and I actually was so impressed that I made a super 8 movie about the book while I was travelling in Germany

Rating:
Summary: A cult classic!
Review: This is the book about Luke Rhinehart, he's in his thirties and tired of his life and the everyday routines "life is islands of extacy in an ocean of boredom, and when you reach your thirties you rarely see land...", one evening, after a poker evening with some of his collegues, when the collegues has left he finds a dice is missing, it's hidden under a card in the bookshelves, he believes, if this indeed is the dice and it shows the snake-eye I will go downstairs and rape Arlene, he thinks for himself. He lifts the card and finds the dice showing...the snake-eye. Thus The Dice Man is born, he starts letting the dice making all decicions for him. The first chapters in the book he describes what goes on in the mind of a depressed person, and he does it in a great way, you can't read these chapters without feeling some amount of recognition, though, after the first dice is thrown the homour takes over, and the book in a way looses some of the initial touch, though it's still great. This is concidered a cult classic, and is actually one of the few that holds for that pressure, for instance the british band Earthling is inspired by this book and uses "the dice technique" for writing their lyrics, for me this is a must-read

Rating:
Summary: One of the most outstanding books I've ever read
Review: I highly recommend this book

Rating:
Summary: Wow, this book is bad!
Review: Really. Really. Bad book.
Do not read.

Rating:
Summary: The "Invisible" Dice Man?
Review: We have two mysteries going on which may each be the solution for each other. (1) Readers/fans of "The Dice Man" by Luke Rhinehart suspect its author is psuedononymous and wonder what else he's written. (2) Ditto with "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" by H.F. Keating. I suspect both were written by one author. Their similarities: 1) first person POV linear narrative 2) educated, middleaged, white male protagonist 3) contemporary US setting 4) unique satirical viewpoint w/similar bureaucratic & pop culture targets 5) arresting fantasy/SF premise sets up story 6) similar sense of humor 7) VERY similar writing styles, even down to some specific phraseology 8) perhaps most obviously, both books share themes of hiding your real identity...either concealing the body behind a transparency effect, or concealing the personality behind pseudo-identities.

A third book that may have been written by this same fellow, and which corresponds to some of the items on the above list, is a comic thriller (now out of print) called "Dunn's Conundrum" by "Stan Lee" (not the comics publisher). Its premise: an NSA type agency hides minicameras all over the USA. Theme: private vs. public personalities.

We know Rhinehart is a psuedonym; early editions of "Dice Man" acknowledged the real author as George Cockcroft. He played the game of openly "hiding" this identity behind the unconcealed Rhinehart psuedonym, thus making L.R. not only his protagonist but his alter ego. As for "Invisible Man," despite M. Halski's assertions that HF Saint is a real name/person, I think this clever author would find it equally (and similarly)irresistable to hide HIS real identity...again, just like his protagonist does.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it.
Review: This book is fantastic. Philosophical, darkly humorous, and full of adventure, the pages contain more than just a novel but a novel concept that could open up many doors.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I just resently read this book and I'm not surprised it's become a cult novel. Free yourself from your destiny if you dare! It wasn't the most perfect piece of litterature I've read, but it got to me, and that's why it deserves 5 stars.