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The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart

the_dice_man The randomised, philosophical, self-important autobiography of one Dr. Lucius (Luke) Rhinehart form the novel, The Dice Man. Luke Rhinehart made himself the protagonist of this story, designed, I’m assuming, to shock readers around the world. Except that it didn’t shock me.

Perhaps if I wasn’t already a cynic I would be converted, but I’ve read my fair share of these types of books, books that challenge humanity, and overall it was a mildly entertaining read.

Dr. Rhinehart, disillusioned psychiatrist is unhappy with his life, check that. He’s bored with his life. Of apathy is oft borne demons. Hence the Dice Man is born, assigning courses of action to rolls of the dice, never to question or disobey, no matter what the outcome. In this sense Rhinehart destroys “the self”, with enough Albert Camus references splashed around to sound like he has some philosophical standing. It’s delightfully honest, laugh-out-loud funny to begin with. But Rhinehart gets lost in his head a lot. The story becomes stagnant, and I did not smile again until page 283 (a news report detailing some mischief making involving a Broadway production of Hair and a bus full of mental patients). As Rhinehart regresses, he becomes less human, but not in a sinister way. His diabolical plans illustrate a deranged man, swamped in cartoonish villainry.

Not content with simply living his life by the Dice, Rhinehart sets out to spread his new religion, opening Diceschools. The ridiculousness of this is expressed in a letter from one dicestudent:

It was great. It was a real religious feeling, a spiritual thing. Suddenly I was free of all my hangups about raping little girls and buggering boys. I gave up the struggle and put the whole mess into the hands of the dice…It’s like being in the middle of a movie I’ve never seen before. (p259)

Beyond the obvious disturbing nature of this rapist/patient’s case, there are a couple of things in this book that don’t sit quite right. As mentioned before, the tendency to stall the story with self-indulgent soliloquy that one may find in an annoyingly zealous person of faith. Also, while dicepeople proclaim Chance as their master of life, there is a tendency to assign more than one number to an outcome, pushing odds towards a favourable outcome. This to me contradicts the very essence of dicelife.

If any of these terms are confusing, read the book. It was frustrating, entertaining, mindboggling and boring. If anything, it is true to the ever-changing, multiple personalities of Rhinehart. The climax arrives late, but it arrives, and if I’m not convincing you, please read it just so you can tell me what you think, because the jury’s out for me.

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March 30th, 2009ReviewsRead More >1 Comment