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fandomhigh_ooc2007-03-18 04:48 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms: The Westing Game.
"The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!
Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood along on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Five empty stories high.
Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. The letters were signed Barney Northrup.
The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup."
So begins The Westing Game, a young adult murder mystery book by Ellen Raskin, written in 1978 and the winner of the Newberry Medal. The copy I currently own isn't as beaten up as the one I last lost a few years ago (probably on its fifty seventh read-through) and was once owned by a Mrs. Fehrenbach, or so it says on the first page.
What is The Westing Game about? The book is set up like a puzzle where you're introduced to a very strange premise: Sam Westing has died, and sixteen people (most of whom have become tenants of Sunset Towers, built on the Westing property) have been chosen to be his heirs. However, they cannot win anything until one of them figures out who murdered him. Whoever figures that out, wins it all.
"Only you have all the clues," the back of the book prompts, "but you're completing against some very clever players." The premise of the book is to figure out who killed Sam Westing before the players; it's easy to be distracted, though, by the well written story, the subtle humour, and the very personable characters.
The best way to explain is to offer this copy of the Westing Will, actually typed up for in-game purposes. The section where the heirs are listed with their "position" is a great way to introduce the players, copied from it's entirey from the book:
"I, Samuel W. Westing, resident of Westing County in the fair state of Wisconson in the great and glorious United States of America, being of sound mind and memory, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testiment.
FIRST. I returned to live among my friends and my enemies. I came home to seek my heir, aware that in doing so I faced death. And so I did.
Today, I have gathered together my nearest and dearest, my sixteen nieces and nephews (Sit down, Grace Windsor Wexler!) to view the body of your Uncle Sam for the last time.
Tomorrow its ashes will be scattered to the four winds.
SECOND. I, Samuel W. Westing, hereby swear that I did not die of natural causes. My life was taken from me--by one of you!
The police are helpless. The culprit is far too cunning to be apprehended for this dastardly deed.
I, alone, know the name. Now it is up to you. Cast out the sinner, let the guilty rise up and confess.
THIRD. Who among you is worthy to be the Westing heir? Help me. My soul shall roam restlessly until that one is found.
The estate is at the crossroads. The heir who wins the windfall will be the one who finds the
FOURTH. Hail to thee, O land of opportunity! You have made me, the son of poor immigrants, rich, powerful, and respected.
So take stock in America, my heirs, and sing in praise of this generous land. You, too, may strike it rich who dares to play the Westing game.
FIFTH. Sit down, your honor, and read the letter this brilliant young attorney will now hand over to you.
SIXTH. Before you proceed to the game room there will be one minute of silent prayer for your good old Uncle Sam.
SEVENTH. And now, dear friends, relatives, and enemies, the Westing game begins.
The rules are simple:
-Number of players: 16, divided into 8 pairs.
-Each pair will recieve $10,000.
-Each pair will recieve one set of clues.
-Forfeits: If any player drops out, the partnet must leave the game. Absent pairs forfeit the $10,000; their clues will be held until the next session.
-Players will be given two days' notice of the next session. Each pair may then give one answer.
-Object of the game: to win.
EIGHTH. The heirs will now be paired. When called, go to the assigned table. Your name and position will be read as signed on the receipt.
It will be up to the other players to discover who you really are.
[[ recorder's note: the following pairings are listed because they happened; they were not a part of the will itself ]]
1. Madame Sun Lin Hoo, cook
Jake Wexler, standing or sitting when not lying down
2. Turtle Wexler, witch
Flora Baumbach, dressmaker
3. Christos Theodorakis, birdwatcher
D. Denton Deere, intern, St. Joseph's Hospital, Department of Plastic Surgery
4. Alexander McSouthers, doorman
J. J. Ford, judge, Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court
5. Grace Windsor Wexler, heiress
James Shin Hoo, restaurateur
6. Erica Berthe Crow, Good Salvation Soup Kitchen
Otis Amber, deliverer
7. Theo Theodorakis, brother
Doug Hoo, first in all-state high-school mile run
8. Sydelle Pulaski, secretary to the president
Angela Wexler, none
NINTH. Money! Each pair in attendance will now recieve a check in the sum of $10,000. The check cannot be cashed without the signatures of both partners. Spend it wisely or go for broke. May God thy gold refine.
TENTH. Each pair in attentance will now recieve an envelope containing a set of clues. No two sets of clues are alike. It is not what you have, it's what you don't have that counts.
ELEVENTH. Senseless, you say? Death is senseless yet makes way for the living. Life, too, is senseless unless you know who you are, what you want, and which way the wind blows.
So on with the game. The solution is simple if you know whom you are looking for. But heirs, beware! Be aware!
Some are not who they say they are, and some are not who they seem to be. Whoever you are, it's time to go home.
God bless you all and remember this:
Buy Westing Paper Products!"
And there you have it; the game begins. The clues consist of four words on paper towels, offering very disjointed hints toward several possible conclusions. I feel like I can't say too much without ruining some of the wonderful surprises of this book, but life in Sunset Towers tries to go on as normal, despite the knowledge of a murder amonst them. Paranoia, suspicion, greed, being snowed in, power outages, bombings all follow, building up the apprehension and the need to solve this mystery first. Who will win? What sort of secrets are revealed about people we feel we know, but are hiding things to be discovered as the game continues on?
Well, you'll have to read the book. It's a very quick read, both because it is well written and it is also intended for a younger audience. However, it doesn't necissarily feel that way, as it is covers a lot of deep issues, from race (through Judge J.J. Ford, a black woman who's connection with Westing is antagonistic because her father was a servant to him, and the Hoos, an American-Chinese family) to class issues (Sam Westing is an "American dream" as a self-made man, Grace Wexler is a social climber, and issues between class divides are shown in the involvement of the Theodorakis family) to family dynamics (the faltering relationship between Jake and Grace Wexler, dynamics of disappointment between James Hoo and his son) to social expectations (Angela Wexler's struggle with doing what is expect of her in marriage and education, Turtle Wexler's struggle with not being like Angela). For being only 185 pages and a book written for young adults, it's an extremely in-depth book that goes well beyond being just a murder mystery.
"Who were these people,, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented one of the partments to the wrong person.">
Clearly, revolving around sixteen main characters, it would take a while to go through them too much, but I can try to highlight some of the high points:
Sam Westing: The man who died. The son of poor immigrants, Sam Westing was the American Dream, building up an empire and a might inheritance, and then he died. Success doesn't seem to come without a little bit of insanity, though, as seen in his method of inheritence. But Sam Westing had certainly hidden a lot of secrets, and made a few enemies, to be discovered in the process of the book.
Turtle Wexler: Turtle is, arguably, the main character of the book, although it's difficult to plop that title on any of them, as they're all essential. The focus of the story does seem to follow the experiences of the thirteen-year-old capitalist genius more than the others, though. She, in a bet with Sandy McSouthers, Doug Hoo, Otis Amber, and Theo Theodorakis, sneaks into the Westing house after smoke is discovered drifting from the chimney and she stumbles across Sam Westing's dead body. A few days later, an obituary (littered with, as Turtle reads through it, a few inaccuracies from what she recalled) surfaces in the paper and the heirs are invited to a reading of the will.
Sandy McSouthers: The doorman of Sunset Towers, Sandy is a personable, strange, poor gentleman who sort of serves as a doorman also to the secrets. His position puts him in a place where he can see the coming and goings of the building. Sandy is the only person able to get away with touching Turtle's braid.
Judge J.J. Ford: Josephine-Jo Ford is an interesting character; her connection with the court system (and her partnership with Sandy) allows her to collect important information about the heirs. She is distant, but respectable, though her stature and distrust of people sets her apart from her fellow tenants.
James Shin Hoo: Owner of the Chinese restaurant that takes over the fifth floor of Sunset Towers, James Shin Hoo is man constantly bitter about his failed success...and any association with Sam Westing.
Grace Windsor Wexler: Claiming to be the only one truly related to Sam Westing (she claims he is her uncle), this socialite feels that she's really the only one who has a claim to the inheritance. She thinks this also true should one of her daughters, Angela and Turtle, win; they would "owe" it to her to be shared with her. Rather scheming, Grace is set to win what she feels should rightfull be hers.
Otis Amber: Quite possibly the strangest of the heirs (and one of the few who do not actually live in Sunset Towers), the sixty-year-old delivery boy serves as an interesting connection to all the heirs in his position as an "outsider."
Of course, all the characters have important rolls, but these are the few that seem to stand out as controling a lot of the action of the book. As mentioned before, they're each very developed and interesting characters. I wish I could talk about all of them, but I don't want to bore you, nor do I want to take away from the excitement of discovering these nuances through reading the book itself.
Link time! Here we go!
The Westing Heirs: A very fun, interactive site about the book. I love the graphics on the heirs page, set up like the lobby of Sunset Towers. Tooooo cool.
On Amazon: This isn't the version of the book I have, but I love the cover of this one. Read all the cool reviews, by the damn book. It's totally worth it.
The Essential Wikipedia Link: Also with a cover I don't have. This was the cover of the one I lost last. I've lost this book about as many times as I've read it. hehe.
The Westing Game TV Show: I...have never seen it. I have no desire to. It's existance seems like an abomination. Turtle doesn't even have her braid! OMG! But Diane Ladd as Crow cracks me up. XD
A Fanart: Really, the only good fanart of the book I've been able to find. Turtle and Theo. SO CUTE, OMG.
Theo Theodorakis: The fact that I could find more potential pictures of Turtle over Theo was the only reason I didn't app him. Kind of quiet, this writer-to-be and dutiful brother would be awesome in Fandom... ((And, Turtle/Theo OTP, OMG *dorks*)) The greatest thing ever would be him advocating the installation of elevators in the dorms when a visit from his wheelchair-bound brother Chris becomes problematic. I expect Blair would have to help with this.
--Flora Baumbach: To open a tailor shop in the town. Everyone's favourite push-over. I'd be highly amused.
--James Shin Hoo: Takes over Ching Tai. There's a Soup Nazi joke in here somewhere, too.
--Jake Wexler: Because he rocks hardcore. This podiatrist needs to be involved at the clinic. And play darts with Deadpool. *nod*
*frowns at above* I love this book. Insanely much. I've read it more times than I can count, and I don't think I did it justice at all.
Questions? Comments? Stock tips? Prompt me to babble! =D
Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood along on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Five empty stories high.
Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. The letters were signed Barney Northrup.
The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup."
So begins The Westing Game, a young adult murder mystery book by Ellen Raskin, written in 1978 and the winner of the Newberry Medal. The copy I currently own isn't as beaten up as the one I last lost a few years ago (probably on its fifty seventh read-through) and was once owned by a Mrs. Fehrenbach, or so it says on the first page.
What is The Westing Game about? The book is set up like a puzzle where you're introduced to a very strange premise: Sam Westing has died, and sixteen people (most of whom have become tenants of Sunset Towers, built on the Westing property) have been chosen to be his heirs. However, they cannot win anything until one of them figures out who murdered him. Whoever figures that out, wins it all.
"Only you have all the clues," the back of the book prompts, "but you're completing against some very clever players." The premise of the book is to figure out who killed Sam Westing before the players; it's easy to be distracted, though, by the well written story, the subtle humour, and the very personable characters.
The best way to explain is to offer this copy of the Westing Will, actually typed up for in-game purposes. The section where the heirs are listed with their "position" is a great way to introduce the players, copied from it's entirey from the book:
"I, Samuel W. Westing, resident of Westing County in the fair state of Wisconson in the great and glorious United States of America, being of sound mind and memory, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testiment.
FIRST. I returned to live among my friends and my enemies. I came home to seek my heir, aware that in doing so I faced death. And so I did.
Today, I have gathered together my nearest and dearest, my sixteen nieces and nephews (Sit down, Grace Windsor Wexler!) to view the body of your Uncle Sam for the last time.
Tomorrow its ashes will be scattered to the four winds.
SECOND. I, Samuel W. Westing, hereby swear that I did not die of natural causes. My life was taken from me--by one of you!
The police are helpless. The culprit is far too cunning to be apprehended for this dastardly deed.
I, alone, know the name. Now it is up to you. Cast out the sinner, let the guilty rise up and confess.
THIRD. Who among you is worthy to be the Westing heir? Help me. My soul shall roam restlessly until that one is found.
The estate is at the crossroads. The heir who wins the windfall will be the one who finds the
FOURTH. Hail to thee, O land of opportunity! You have made me, the son of poor immigrants, rich, powerful, and respected.
So take stock in America, my heirs, and sing in praise of this generous land. You, too, may strike it rich who dares to play the Westing game.
FIFTH. Sit down, your honor, and read the letter this brilliant young attorney will now hand over to you.
SIXTH. Before you proceed to the game room there will be one minute of silent prayer for your good old Uncle Sam.
SEVENTH. And now, dear friends, relatives, and enemies, the Westing game begins.
The rules are simple:
-Number of players: 16, divided into 8 pairs.
-Each pair will recieve $10,000.
-Each pair will recieve one set of clues.
-Forfeits: If any player drops out, the partnet must leave the game. Absent pairs forfeit the $10,000; their clues will be held until the next session.
-Players will be given two days' notice of the next session. Each pair may then give one answer.
-Object of the game: to win.
EIGHTH. The heirs will now be paired. When called, go to the assigned table. Your name and position will be read as signed on the receipt.
It will be up to the other players to discover who you really are.
[[ recorder's note: the following pairings are listed because they happened; they were not a part of the will itself ]]
1. Madame Sun Lin Hoo, cook
Jake Wexler, standing or sitting when not lying down
2. Turtle Wexler, witch
Flora Baumbach, dressmaker
3. Christos Theodorakis, birdwatcher
D. Denton Deere, intern, St. Joseph's Hospital, Department of Plastic Surgery
4. Alexander McSouthers, doorman
J. J. Ford, judge, Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court
5. Grace Windsor Wexler, heiress
James Shin Hoo, restaurateur
6. Erica Berthe Crow, Good Salvation Soup Kitchen
Otis Amber, deliverer
7. Theo Theodorakis, brother
Doug Hoo, first in all-state high-school mile run
8. Sydelle Pulaski, secretary to the president
Angela Wexler, none
NINTH. Money! Each pair in attendance will now recieve a check in the sum of $10,000. The check cannot be cashed without the signatures of both partners. Spend it wisely or go for broke. May God thy gold refine.
TENTH. Each pair in attentance will now recieve an envelope containing a set of clues. No two sets of clues are alike. It is not what you have, it's what you don't have that counts.
ELEVENTH. Senseless, you say? Death is senseless yet makes way for the living. Life, too, is senseless unless you know who you are, what you want, and which way the wind blows.
So on with the game. The solution is simple if you know whom you are looking for. But heirs, beware! Be aware!
Some are not who they say they are, and some are not who they seem to be. Whoever you are, it's time to go home.
God bless you all and remember this:
Buy Westing Paper Products!"
And there you have it; the game begins. The clues consist of four words on paper towels, offering very disjointed hints toward several possible conclusions. I feel like I can't say too much without ruining some of the wonderful surprises of this book, but life in Sunset Towers tries to go on as normal, despite the knowledge of a murder amonst them. Paranoia, suspicion, greed, being snowed in, power outages, bombings all follow, building up the apprehension and the need to solve this mystery first. Who will win? What sort of secrets are revealed about people we feel we know, but are hiding things to be discovered as the game continues on?
Well, you'll have to read the book. It's a very quick read, both because it is well written and it is also intended for a younger audience. However, it doesn't necissarily feel that way, as it is covers a lot of deep issues, from race (through Judge J.J. Ford, a black woman who's connection with Westing is antagonistic because her father was a servant to him, and the Hoos, an American-Chinese family) to class issues (Sam Westing is an "American dream" as a self-made man, Grace Wexler is a social climber, and issues between class divides are shown in the involvement of the Theodorakis family) to family dynamics (the faltering relationship between Jake and Grace Wexler, dynamics of disappointment between James Hoo and his son) to social expectations (Angela Wexler's struggle with doing what is expect of her in marriage and education, Turtle Wexler's struggle with not being like Angela). For being only 185 pages and a book written for young adults, it's an extremely in-depth book that goes well beyond being just a murder mystery.
"Who were these people,, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented one of the partments to the wrong person.">
Clearly, revolving around sixteen main characters, it would take a while to go through them too much, but I can try to highlight some of the high points:
Sam Westing: The man who died. The son of poor immigrants, Sam Westing was the American Dream, building up an empire and a might inheritance, and then he died. Success doesn't seem to come without a little bit of insanity, though, as seen in his method of inheritence. But Sam Westing had certainly hidden a lot of secrets, and made a few enemies, to be discovered in the process of the book.
Turtle Wexler: Turtle is, arguably, the main character of the book, although it's difficult to plop that title on any of them, as they're all essential. The focus of the story does seem to follow the experiences of the thirteen-year-old capitalist genius more than the others, though. She, in a bet with Sandy McSouthers, Doug Hoo, Otis Amber, and Theo Theodorakis, sneaks into the Westing house after smoke is discovered drifting from the chimney and she stumbles across Sam Westing's dead body. A few days later, an obituary (littered with, as Turtle reads through it, a few inaccuracies from what she recalled) surfaces in the paper and the heirs are invited to a reading of the will.
Sandy McSouthers: The doorman of Sunset Towers, Sandy is a personable, strange, poor gentleman who sort of serves as a doorman also to the secrets. His position puts him in a place where he can see the coming and goings of the building. Sandy is the only person able to get away with touching Turtle's braid.
Judge J.J. Ford: Josephine-Jo Ford is an interesting character; her connection with the court system (and her partnership with Sandy) allows her to collect important information about the heirs. She is distant, but respectable, though her stature and distrust of people sets her apart from her fellow tenants.
James Shin Hoo: Owner of the Chinese restaurant that takes over the fifth floor of Sunset Towers, James Shin Hoo is man constantly bitter about his failed success...and any association with Sam Westing.
Grace Windsor Wexler: Claiming to be the only one truly related to Sam Westing (she claims he is her uncle), this socialite feels that she's really the only one who has a claim to the inheritance. She thinks this also true should one of her daughters, Angela and Turtle, win; they would "owe" it to her to be shared with her. Rather scheming, Grace is set to win what she feels should rightfull be hers.
Otis Amber: Quite possibly the strangest of the heirs (and one of the few who do not actually live in Sunset Towers), the sixty-year-old delivery boy serves as an interesting connection to all the heirs in his position as an "outsider."
Of course, all the characters have important rolls, but these are the few that seem to stand out as controling a lot of the action of the book. As mentioned before, they're each very developed and interesting characters. I wish I could talk about all of them, but I don't want to bore you, nor do I want to take away from the excitement of discovering these nuances through reading the book itself.
Link time! Here we go!
The Westing Heirs: A very fun, interactive site about the book. I love the graphics on the heirs page, set up like the lobby of Sunset Towers. Tooooo cool.
On Amazon: This isn't the version of the book I have, but I love the cover of this one. Read all the cool reviews, by the damn book. It's totally worth it.
The Essential Wikipedia Link: Also with a cover I don't have. This was the cover of the one I lost last. I've lost this book about as many times as I've read it. hehe.
The Westing Game TV Show: I...have never seen it. I have no desire to. It's existance seems like an abomination. Turtle doesn't even have her braid! OMG! But Diane Ladd as Crow cracks me up. XD
A Fanart: Really, the only good fanart of the book I've been able to find. Turtle and Theo. SO CUTE, OMG.
Theo Theodorakis: The fact that I could find more potential pictures of Turtle over Theo was the only reason I didn't app him. Kind of quiet, this writer-to-be and dutiful brother would be awesome in Fandom... ((And, Turtle/Theo OTP, OMG *dorks*)) The greatest thing ever would be him advocating the installation of elevators in the dorms when a visit from his wheelchair-bound brother Chris becomes problematic. I expect Blair would have to help with this.
--Flora Baumbach: To open a tailor shop in the town. Everyone's favourite push-over. I'd be highly amused.
--James Shin Hoo: Takes over Ching Tai. There's a Soup Nazi joke in here somewhere, too.
--Jake Wexler: Because he rocks hardcore. This podiatrist needs to be involved at the clinic. And play darts with Deadpool. *nod*
*frowns at above* I love this book. Insanely much. I've read it more times than I can count, and I don't think I did it justice at all.
Questions? Comments? Stock tips? Prompt me to babble! =D
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Turtle: *cries, scrambles for the brain bleach*
And, on the not-dirty front:
Jake: "Good shot! And, really, where did you get that suit? I'm thinking I should get me one to wear around the office. It's quite dashing, really. Not sure if red is my color; I'll have to ask Gracie."
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Having said that, I was about eight at the time and the details are waaay fuzzy.
Either way, I feel like I should hunt down the book and read it so I can see if the very vague bits I remember, are actually in it or not. :D
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...God, even OOC, Turtle's influencing people to buy stuff. hehe.
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Plus, at £1, not buying it would just be silly.
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So if you ever need anyone to NPC Turtle's family or anything, let me know :)
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...
*falls off chair, dead from laughter* O.M.G.
Although, going hand-in-hand with this, the Jake playing darts with Deadpool thing was also accompanied with an ... interesting meeting between Grace and Lucifer. *snerk*
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One thing I noticed? The thing Turtle figures out from the will at the end of the book (is that vague enough?) is more obvious in the transcript you posted than in the narrative. I guess that's why it was only READ to the heirs.
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*grins* Yeah, definately more obvious this way. But *nudging Turtle* still not obvious enough. She'll figure it out eventually. Mwa ha ha.
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*stares at bookshelves in dismay*
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It's only 185 pages? Felt like much longer...
I need to find a copy....
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And much longer in the good way, right? In that when you're done, it's hard to believe so much could be done with so little? That's how I feel. I'm always sad when I get to the end. And not just because it's one of the few endings of a book that's made me cry before. XD
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i am Grace Windsor Wexler
(Anonymous) 2008-03-17 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)Re: i am sandy
(Anonymous) 2010-02-09 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)the westing game:D
(Anonymous) 2010-05-03 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)Re: the westing game:D
(Anonymous) 2010-05-03 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)Re:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMzgVshG6CI