The Dice Man

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

On the weekend I read /The Dice Man/ by Luke Rhinehart which is not only 
immensely entertaining but also a philosophical read. Freedom, identity 
and the old Hobbesian problem of social order are treated on a very 
basic level, and the whole thing is more than just a little funny.  In 
its amorality the novel foreshadows Bret Easton Ellis. Other American 
authors I had to think of while reading are Updike (marriage), Jong 
(shrinks), Roth (obsession with identity), Dick (the whole crazy idea). 
But don't get this wrong: Rhinehart's novel is of great originality! 
I've never read something like this before and can recommend the book 
wholeheartedly. It also works as an escapist read.

When I fed a search engine with "Luke Rhinehart" and "Thomas Pynchon" I 
got this:

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/the-50-coolest-books-ever

And when I searched the archives I found the following :

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0804&msg=126207&sort=date

Mark Kohut:

Speaking of chance, roulette, gambling and Reef/Yashmeen. See this one from the list"
   The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart (1971)

Blame a burgeoning mistrust of conventional psychiatry for the immediate impact of The Dice Man -- a novel
whose hero, a disillusioned psychiatrist, vows to make every decision of his life according to the roll of
a die. As one might have expected from the times, chance sends him into violence and anarchy, which also
explains the book's enduring appeal. AC
   

rich <richard.romeo@[omitted]> wrote:
   no Under the Volcano? bah...

rich

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 11:01 AM, Ian (Hank Kimble) Scuffling
wrote:
>http://tinyurl.com/4bj8nf
> (c) Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2008
>
> Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (1973)
> Europe-hopping comic metanovel of war and power, stuffed with maths,
> shaggy-dog stories, childish humour and ravishing sentences. And lots
> of rockets. Genius, though long enough to lie unfinished.
>
> --
> AsB4,
>
> Henry Mu
>

In an episode of /The Big Bang Theory/ Sheldon Cooper makes his 
decisions according to the roll of two dices.


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