Customer Reviews

The Search for the Dice Man

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a disappointment! This sequel comes about a quarter century after the original, but shows nothing of its antecedents. You'll search in vain for "Luke Rhinehart" here and, like me, suspect a different (and very indifferent) author. My advice is -- don't read it.

I feel about "Dice Man" a bit like I feel about Ayn Rand's novels: Both begin in our real world and proceed to carry us towards an alternate (superior?) life structure envisioned by the author. I can't see either vision as a complete blueprint for re-forming my life, and yet the ideas are extremely thought-provoking and powerfully expressed. The orginal "Dice Man" is a great fantasy. This follow-on, set 20 years later, is a (somewhat) more realistic examination of the implications of dice living. True, it's a bit less fantastic than the original, but if you really found the dice notion interesting, you should read this as well. I enjoyed it, both for its ideas and as a novel.

The Search for the Dice Man picks up 20 years after the events in The Dice Man focussing on Luke's son, Larry, a successful Wall Street futures broker who has shun the dice living of his father. Chance intervenes and he finds himself searching for his father and discovering the perils and pleasures of the dice life.

The narrative and style of the novel is much more conventional than that of The Dice Man, partly down to the fact that it's (mainly) written from Larry's conservative viewpoint. However this makes for a fairly ordinary, even dull read at times missing a lot of the irony and wildness of the first book. Fans of the Dice Man should still give it a look, just don't expect much of it's freshness or uniqueness.

I feel about "Dice Man" a bit like I feel about Ayn Rand's novels: Both begin in our real world and proceed to carry us towards an alternate (superior?) life structure envisioned by the author. I can't see either vision as a complete blueprint for re-forming my life, and yet the ideas are extremely thought-provoking and powerfully expressed. The original "Dice Man" is a great fantasy. This follow-on, set 20 years later, is a (somewhat) more realistic examination of the implications of dice living. True, it's a bit less fantastic than the original, but if you really found the dice notion interesting, you should read this as well. I enjoyed it, both for its ideas and as a novel.

This sequel is much better than the original. I think it is, because it has a few fantastic elements, but overall is much more level-headed. Also, the first one had a cruel feel to it, whereas this one is much more sane.

Great great great! A truely worthy successor to the 60'ies cult classic: "The Dice Man". Luke uses lots of sarcasm and irony as he places himself in the shoes of his son Larry. He is not being self-righteus and he presents the way of the dice using a great deal of self-irony and he does an extraordinary job displaying his own insignificance. The multiple layers of the book are perfect in context making ideal for close-up reading.

I'm Danish - so forgive typing errors. This review reffers to the Danish version of the book.