really disliked this book from a literary point of view and as a puzzle, it's a schematic whodunnit with an obliging American happy end.
I did not find it confusing just boring and the characters were unrealistic, In the book a group ofpeople obediently moves into an apartment block and for some reason they all leave their lifes behind.
Not one of them has a friend or a hobby/interest/job outside this apartment block for the most of the story.
Teenagers live for their friends and through their friends but in this book they conveniently only communicate with each other and seek no other entertainment despite having quite different backgrounds.
Then these people just as obediently they start figure out clues to get an inheritance, The The Westing Game's language is abrupt and non descriptive, the characters are unsympathetic and the book is disjointed, I certainly did not care about any of them despite some realistic features, One of the characters, Sybelle Pulaski is a manipulator who pretends to be an invalid so people would pay attention to her, I am not a big supporter of political correctness but how sick is this I would pity people like her but I think most people would despise such a character and the book does not explain why, after working for many years in the same place, her boss suddenly develops an interest in this irritating woman.
The writer tried to invoke some sympathy for the main character, Turtle by making her a daughter who is under loved by her mother and suffering because of it.
Turtle is certainly the most developed character in the book but still I found her boring because she and other characters were so easily manipulated by the idea of money, so it was hard to believe that at the end of the book everyone apart from Turtle suddenly decided not to care about inheritance.
One could straight away guess that the two simpletons in the book are just pretending to be as such and once again I fail to understand how a wife of twenty or so years would fail to recognise her ex husband, doesn't matter how many years passed.
People mainly change before they grow up and apart from the face there are lots of other features to be recognised by, like a voice or a manner of speaking, body language and habits.
On the whole the two characters of Turtle and Sybelle gave a bit of depth to the book but the it was still a disappointment.
I could not stop reading this book! THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin is a phenomenal mystery, and Im actually in awe of how good it is.
As I was reading it, I kept forgetting its a novel as it seemed like a puzzle, and the writing style is just amazing.
Its one of the childrens titles for my postgrad creative writing course, but it reminded me so much of Virginia Woolfs style.
I actually googled the book to see if its taught to children at schools or just used for degree level courses because of this almost stream of consciousness style and complexity, with so many beautiful nuanced layers.
Its recommended for agesand upward, and I have since learnt it's taught widely in US schools, but as a UK reader, I hadn't heard of this book at all and here it often seems only to be taught to adults as an example of how childrens stories should be as complex as adult stories, as obviously you shouldnt “write down” to children.
It will give great satisfaction to adult readers who may be reading it aloud to children, as theyll understand the complex themes in it that younger children may not.
Though I think childrenand older would grasp the deeper meanings in this book, and YA readers certainly will, The story followspeople a mixture of children, teenagers, and adults as they listen to the reading of Sam Westings will and discover that one of them is a murderer.
Allare then thrown into the Westing Game where each must solve clues pertaining to the identity of the murderer.
At times, these clues are almost set out like an instruction manual for a game, so we, as the readers, are also playing along.
Its this interactive quality that Im finding so addictive, It took me a little while to get into this book, mainly because there are just so many main characters, and we're not told a whole lot about these to start with.
But we're thrown right into the mystery, and it's like we're trying to solve the mystery at the same time as learn about the characters which does work really well as we're trying to work out who the murderer is.
And working out who the murderer is was just something I couldn't do which rarely happens, But I really had no idea, And for that, I loved this book, It's just so powerful and it was refreshing to read such a complex and wonderfully plotted mystery that kept me on my toes as a reader.
I was really making sure to read every single word on each page in case I missed a clue, Also, the narrative devices in this book are great, We've got multimedia in this as we get recounts of Sam Westing's will and other documents, And all of these are clues for the mystery too!The ending of the book wasstrange, I don't know, it's hard to describe it without getting into spoiler territory, Because there are big twists, and though these were satisfying, I was kind of waiting for something to happen as I was readingbut then by the time I got to the very last page, I realised that the ending was perfect as it was.
If there had been another twist it probably would've detracted from the quietly powerful ending where the true impact of it only hits you after you've stopped reading and you've got time to think.
And those final pages, where time suddenly speeds up and we learn what happens to the children as they grow up and the deaths of the older characters who were adults in the story is really heartbreaking.
It's really powerful writing. Turtle was by far my favourite character, swiftly followed by Angela, These two characters sisters really complimented each other, and I loved how many layers they each had, especially the darkness in Angela as spoiler she turns out to be the bomber.
I also loved Sydelle and Otis calling Otis the 'year old delivery boy' was fantastic, by the way!, The other characters with the exception of Grace, the mother of Angela and Turtle, although still strong with characterisation, didn't quite have the same impact on me as these characters.
I think it's because there are just so many main characters in this book, It was a bit overwhelming, For a long time, I didn't even realise that Crow would be a significant character either, So that threw me a little, Disability representation is also amazing, with the character of Chris who's a wheelchair user and I loved how this book has other characters making assumptions about Chris and being stereotypical, but that these characters are then either called out, or the narrative voice becomes really snarky as it tackles the misconception.
This is honestly one of the best books I've read for disability representation, And equally, it's not just disability that the book calls out about this there's also a lot on feminism and the role of women, with characters fighting stereotypes and 'traditional' views.
The writing style of THE WESTING GAME is fun and snarky, and I can see why it would appeal a lot to children and teenagers.
It's just so plucky and fun to read, and the narrative voice of the book is really great, There is a lot of head hopping in the stream of consciousness style as we're bounced from one character to another, but uniting all these characters is this snarky voice which is both snarky and judgmental on the current POV character and about others in general.
And because the head hopping is constant, and the whole thing is written in this style, very similar to Woolf's, this is one of the rare instances where I do feel that the head hopping works.
This is a masterful piece of writing, Highly recommended. The writing style of this book takes a while to get used to, but boy does it just get way better later on in the book.
I just love the characters so much, especially Turtle, Chris, and Flora, Honestly, I'd recommend this to someone who was looking for a character focused plot, but the ending is just so satisfying, especially seeing it all come together.
The only thing I actually dislike about the book is the casual racism that is a part of some of the characters' personalities, but it's pretty tame considering this book was written in.
Going to have to rate this,just because of how spectacular this book is, in terms of characters, proper world building and plot twists, Some reviews have said that this book is a page turner, the characters are great and that you'll want to read it again and again.
I experienced none of this, I'm the kind of person who finishes a book once they've started it, and The Westing Game was one
of those books that was thankfully short.
The characters were not great, the storyline confusing, the clues so jumbled that you couldn't even try and make sense of them only carry on reading in the hope that something is told to you.
Even if something is told to you, you can not trust the sincerity of it as it would be one of the character's opinions, hastily jumped to and often clearly false.
These kinds of false trails lead the reader no where and are boring, Little progression is made until the very end of the book, when out of no where, and to no real effect, the mystery is 'solved' or, the characters involved just come forward of their own random accord and say 'hey, it was me!'.
I was seriously disappointed with this book, considering all of its good reviews, Would not recommend. This is a review of the edition not the writing, I am gobsmacked at how bad the quality is the cover is so thin and doesn't even completely cover the pages either front or back.
The whole is slightly blurry and the print is tiny, Don't buy. Now I am trying to find another version, A Newbery Medal WinnerFor over thirty five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite.
The Westing Game Deluxe Anniversary EditionBefore writing The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin was an incredibly accomplished graphic artist, designing dozens of books, including the cover for the first edition of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle.
While writing The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin also thought about the design and layout, and ultimately the way in which it contributes to the reading experience of the story.
This deluxe anniversary edition honors her original design work and displays bonus content showing the behind the scenes work of designing a book Ellen Raskin style.
Winner of the Newbery Medal Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award An ALA Notable Book ASchool Library Journal One Hundred Books That Shaped the Century
"The Horn Book.
I did not find it confusing just boring and the characters were unrealistic, In the book a group ofpeople obediently moves into an apartment block and for some reason they all leave their lifes behind.
Not one of them has a friend or a hobby/interest/job outside this apartment block for the most of the story.
Teenagers live for their friends and through their friends but in this book they conveniently only communicate with each other and seek no other entertainment despite having quite different backgrounds.
Then these people just as obediently they start figure out clues to get an inheritance, The The Westing Game's language is abrupt and non descriptive, the characters are unsympathetic and the book is disjointed, I certainly did not care about any of them despite some realistic features, One of the characters, Sybelle Pulaski is a manipulator who pretends to be an invalid so people would pay attention to her, I am not a big supporter of political correctness but how sick is this I would pity people like her but I think most people would despise such a character and the book does not explain why, after working for many years in the same place, her boss suddenly develops an interest in this irritating woman.
The writer tried to invoke some sympathy for the main character, Turtle by making her a daughter who is under loved by her mother and suffering because of it.
Turtle is certainly the most developed character in the book but still I found her boring because she and other characters were so easily manipulated by the idea of money, so it was hard to believe that at the end of the book everyone apart from Turtle suddenly decided not to care about inheritance.
One could straight away guess that the two simpletons in the book are just pretending to be as such and once again I fail to understand how a wife of twenty or so years would fail to recognise her ex husband, doesn't matter how many years passed.
People mainly change before they grow up and apart from the face there are lots of other features to be recognised by, like a voice or a manner of speaking, body language and habits.
On the whole the two characters of Turtle and Sybelle gave a bit of depth to the book but the it was still a disappointment.
I could not stop reading this book! THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin is a phenomenal mystery, and Im actually in awe of how good it is.
As I was reading it, I kept forgetting its a novel as it seemed like a puzzle, and the writing style is just amazing.
Its one of the childrens titles for my postgrad creative writing course, but it reminded me so much of Virginia Woolfs style.
I actually googled the book to see if its taught to children at schools or just used for degree level courses because of this almost stream of consciousness style and complexity, with so many beautiful nuanced layers.
Its recommended for agesand upward, and I have since learnt it's taught widely in US schools, but as a UK reader, I hadn't heard of this book at all and here it often seems only to be taught to adults as an example of how childrens stories should be as complex as adult stories, as obviously you shouldnt “write down” to children.
It will give great satisfaction to adult readers who may be reading it aloud to children, as theyll understand the complex themes in it that younger children may not.
Though I think childrenand older would grasp the deeper meanings in this book, and YA readers certainly will, The story followspeople a mixture of children, teenagers, and adults as they listen to the reading of Sam Westings will and discover that one of them is a murderer.
Allare then thrown into the Westing Game where each must solve clues pertaining to the identity of the murderer.
At times, these clues are almost set out like an instruction manual for a game, so we, as the readers, are also playing along.
Its this interactive quality that Im finding so addictive, It took me a little while to get into this book, mainly because there are just so many main characters, and we're not told a whole lot about these to start with.
But we're thrown right into the mystery, and it's like we're trying to solve the mystery at the same time as learn about the characters which does work really well as we're trying to work out who the murderer is.
And working out who the murderer is was just something I couldn't do which rarely happens, But I really had no idea, And for that, I loved this book, It's just so powerful and it was refreshing to read such a complex and wonderfully plotted mystery that kept me on my toes as a reader.
I was really making sure to read every single word on each page in case I missed a clue, Also, the narrative devices in this book are great, We've got multimedia in this as we get recounts of Sam Westing's will and other documents, And all of these are clues for the mystery too!The ending of the book wasstrange, I don't know, it's hard to describe it without getting into spoiler territory, Because there are big twists, and though these were satisfying, I was kind of waiting for something to happen as I was readingbut then by the time I got to the very last page, I realised that the ending was perfect as it was.
If there had been another twist it probably would've detracted from the quietly powerful ending where the true impact of it only hits you after you've stopped reading and you've got time to think.
And those final pages, where time suddenly speeds up and we learn what happens to the children as they grow up and the deaths of the older characters who were adults in the story is really heartbreaking.
It's really powerful writing. Turtle was by far my favourite character, swiftly followed by Angela, These two characters sisters really complimented each other, and I loved how many layers they each had, especially the darkness in Angela as spoiler she turns out to be the bomber.
I also loved Sydelle and Otis calling Otis the 'year old delivery boy' was fantastic, by the way!, The other characters with the exception of Grace, the mother of Angela and Turtle, although still strong with characterisation, didn't quite have the same impact on me as these characters.
I think it's because there are just so many main characters in this book, It was a bit overwhelming, For a long time, I didn't even realise that Crow would be a significant character either, So that threw me a little, Disability representation is also amazing, with the character of Chris who's a wheelchair user and I loved how this book has other characters making assumptions about Chris and being stereotypical, but that these characters are then either called out, or the narrative voice becomes really snarky as it tackles the misconception.
This is honestly one of the best books I've read for disability representation, And equally, it's not just disability that the book calls out about this there's also a lot on feminism and the role of women, with characters fighting stereotypes and 'traditional' views.
The writing style of THE WESTING GAME is fun and snarky, and I can see why it would appeal a lot to children and teenagers.
It's just so plucky and fun to read, and the narrative voice of the book is really great, There is a lot of head hopping in the stream of consciousness style as we're bounced from one character to another, but uniting all these characters is this snarky voice which is both snarky and judgmental on the current POV character and about others in general.
And because the head hopping is constant, and the whole thing is written in this style, very similar to Woolf's, this is one of the rare instances where I do feel that the head hopping works.
This is a masterful piece of writing, Highly recommended. The writing style of this book takes a while to get used to, but boy does it just get way better later on in the book.
I just love the characters so much, especially Turtle, Chris, and Flora, Honestly, I'd recommend this to someone who was looking for a character focused plot, but the ending is just so satisfying, especially seeing it all come together.
The only thing I actually dislike about the book is the casual racism that is a part of some of the characters' personalities, but it's pretty tame considering this book was written in.
Going to have to rate this,just because of how spectacular this book is, in terms of characters, proper world building and plot twists, Some reviews have said that this book is a page turner, the characters are great and that you'll want to read it again and again.
I experienced none of this, I'm the kind of person who finishes a book once they've started it, and The Westing Game was one
of those books that was thankfully short.
The characters were not great, the storyline confusing, the clues so jumbled that you couldn't even try and make sense of them only carry on reading in the hope that something is told to you.
Even if something is told to you, you can not trust the sincerity of it as it would be one of the character's opinions, hastily jumped to and often clearly false.
These kinds of false trails lead the reader no where and are boring, Little progression is made until the very end of the book, when out of no where, and to no real effect, the mystery is 'solved' or, the characters involved just come forward of their own random accord and say 'hey, it was me!'.
I was seriously disappointed with this book, considering all of its good reviews, Would not recommend. This is a review of the edition not the writing, I am gobsmacked at how bad the quality is the cover is so thin and doesn't even completely cover the pages either front or back.
The whole is slightly blurry and the print is tiny, Don't buy. Now I am trying to find another version, A Newbery Medal WinnerFor over thirty five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite.
The Westing Game Deluxe Anniversary EditionBefore writing The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin was an incredibly accomplished graphic artist, designing dozens of books, including the cover for the first edition of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle.
While writing The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin also thought about the design and layout, and ultimately the way in which it contributes to the reading experience of the story.
This deluxe anniversary edition honors her original design work and displays bonus content showing the behind the scenes work of designing a book Ellen Raskin style.
Winner of the Newbery Medal Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award An ALA Notable Book ASchool Library Journal One Hundred Books That Shaped the Century
"A supersharp mysteryconfoundingly clever, and very funny.
" Booklist, starred review
"The Horn Book.