In the first and second chapters of The Westing Game, I feel like this is an elaborate prank and I hate all of you. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to start The Westing Game.
As is custom around here when I start a new book for Mark Reads, let’s go through a couple things. First, some rules!
1) Please do not spoil me or anyone else. If you’ve never experienced a Mark Reads review series, I am approaching this book without any spoilers. I didn’t read any of the excerpts, I have the series name blocked on Tumblr, and I am eager to read this without knowing one single thing about it.
2) Use rot13.com to cypher spoilery comments and thoughts. You are allowed to talk about spoilers and generally sob about how I said that one thing and will be destroyed later. That’s what all the gibberish is in the comments. Firefox and Chrome also have plug-ins that allow you to cypher without going to the site!
3) Please read the Site Rules about commenting conduct. My moderators and I do our best to make this a safe, inclusive community. You may be warned about using certain language or slurs, so please take care to think about what you’re posting. Spoiling or excessively inappropriate behavior will get you banned. The only exception to posting slurs that may be considered ableist is when you are quoting the text. You’ll notice that I will also warn about those words before the video readings, too! I recently changed my policy to read the words aloud so that I wasn’t making myself anxious about trying to change or leave out words when recording videos, so if you are triggered by such words, please read the warning before the commissions.
4) Have fun discussing the book! Share opinions! Non-spoilery fan-art! Songs! Music videos! Your opinions, positive and negative! This is as much a critical analysis space as it is a fandom space. Our intent here at Mark Reads is to make this safe for you to celebrate and analyze this book as you feel you want to, so please nerd out, geek out, or analyze to your heart’s content! I do read the comments, and may often reply to things! This is my IntenseDebate profile so DO NOT ACCEPT IMPOSTORS. Well, no one’s actually tried to be me around here before, but you never know. It’s the Internet, and we’ve seen our fair share of weirdness in this community, right?
Secondly, I do like to share what I know of a book before I begin it. Thankfully, I’d only heard of the title of this book before, so I know not a thing about it. Which you think would be a great thing, but I am SO LOST. IT’S BEEN 9 PAGES AND I HAVE NEVER FELT SO LOST. The book itself is already teasing me about being unprepared. This was all I was able to discern from these two chapters.
- This could take place in four states, since all touch Lake Michigan: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan.
- The delivery boy is repeatedly called a boy, despite being 62.
- Some unknown creep, who goes by the alias Barney Northrup, manages to send letters to six people, all enticing them to move into the new Sunset Towers apartment building, and somehow, all six people are apparently the perfect tenants? They were all purposely sought out to live there, and they all accepted the apartment shown to them.
- Whoever Barney Northrup is, he manages to say the same thing to basically every tenant, and he still magically persuades them to move in.
- One such family is the Wexler family, consisting of Jake, Grace, and their daughter Turtle. Their apartment has a weird closet/bedroom.
- IS THIS GOING TO TURN INTO HOUSE OF LEAVES BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW IF I COULD HANDLE THAT.
- Sydelle Pulaski moves into one apartment, and she has been waiting “all these years for a place of her own.” WHY????
- Oh, and not being able to see into her apartment is a dealbreaker for her. I just… ?????
- “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 apartments to the wrong person.”
- NO ONE WARNED ME THAT I’D HAVE TO DO MATH LOGIC AND SHIT. WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!
- There’s a Chinese restaurant run by Shin Hoo on the top floor; Shin has a son named Dog. The Theodorakis own the coffee shop on the first floor, and there are two brothers: Theo and Chris. The doorman is Sandy McSouthers.
- Oh. And the delivery boy is named Otis Amber. WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING HIM A BOY.
- I am way into stories about creepy houses and shut-ins and the urban legends that grow around them. SO OKAY, WHO IS IN THE WESTING HOUSE AND LIT A FIRE?
- I liked the little reveal that Sandy resents old man Westing because he lost his job at Westing paper mill. THAT WILL PROBABLY COME UP AGAIN.
- YES. GHOST CHALLENGES. OH, IS THIS GOING TO BE A HAUNTED HOUSE BOOK? I LOVE HAUNTED HOUSE STORIES.
- PURPLE WAVES AND BLOODY HANDS. Consider me 100% INTO THIS IF IT IS A GHOST STORY. I haven’t really done one of those for Mark Reads before!!!
- Chris Theodorakis, Theo’s younger brother, is confined to the apartment and can’t leave, and I’m guessing that’s because he suffers from seizures? He also loves birdwatching!
- AND HE SAW SOMEONE GO INTO THE WESTING HOUSE.
- I have no idea what this book is. I don’t like that it’s teasing me about this, either. RUDE.
Please note that the original text/videos contains use of the word “crazy.”
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Mark Links Stuff
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