Paul’s Comments (group member since Mar 15, 2011)

Paul’s comments from the Eleven Reader's Club group.

Paul Riihimaki
ENG3U
The Best Laid Plans Analysis
“Canada is different from the United States.” (Pg. 128) This quotation from the book, The Best Laid Plans highlights the fact that Canada is a unique country in the world. The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis is a humorous, entertaining, and descriptive novel about Canadian politics. It describes life in a Canadian city and will appeal to a wide audience. It is honest, yet it is fictional. The book is set in the nation’s capital; this allows the reader to learn about the sights, sounds, and even smells of the Ottawa area. The book teaches people about politics and the political process in Canada. It gives instruction about the proper use of the English grammar which is useful to those who are learning English and even those who already know it. With the many references to Canadian culture and politics this book is the best way to learn while having a pleasant, hysterical time.
The book informs people about how our government works. Considering large populations of Canadians do not know much about what happens in parliament, reading this book is an exciting way to learn the basics about politics and what the different major political parties stand for and how they operate. The book explains how to campaign successfully for an election, giving the “dos” and “don’ts”. The inner workings of Parliament Hill, the House of Commons, and the Senate are woven into the narrative. Democracy is highlighted and debated very well in this novel with quotes like: “Democracy works best when its citizens are prepared to forgo personal benefits to protect the collective interest.” (Pg. 281) Everyone will vote one day; this book gives information about the different parties of Canada and will help people make the decision on whom to vote for to govern our country. The book points out that “we get the government we deserve. Yes, we want honesty, transparency, and decency in our politicians. To attract such qualities, we need understanding, sensitivity, and sometimes forgiveness in our voters.” (Pg. 152) Our politicians are not perfect, but most do their best for Canada.
The Best Laid Plans describes life in Canada for both citizens and newcomers. It gives descriptions of homes, like apartments and houses, and paints a picture of the furniture and appliances. It describes retirement homes and lists activities that seniors do. It discusses university education which practically everyone should learn about. It outlines the responsibilities Canadian citizens have about voting. It shows awareness of women’s equality rights and emotions that people feel when in a serious relationship. It even describes how to cope in a severe snowstorm.
The book teaches people to speak and write English properly. It points out common English grammar errors people make, and it will definitely help to expand people’s vocabulary. Common grammar mistakes that the book talks about are: use of I or me, dangling participles, worse versus worst, and there are versus there is. It warns people not to splint infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition. As Daniel tells his “English for Engineers” class, “…you cannot realize your full potential as engineers if you cannot communicate your ideas. And you can’t communicate your ideas without a passing understanding of the English language.” (Pg. 48)
Humour holds the attention of the audience and keeps it reading the book. Canadian jokes are throughout the novel. For example, Daniel said that the Leafs had a better chance of winning the Stanley cup than Angus had of getting elected. The book makes many references to Western media, from Monopoly references, to movie characters like James Bond, to Dr. Seuss, even to Saturday Night Live. Although not of Canadian origin, they are part of Canadian culture. These add interest to readers because they can relate to some of these different media symbols. The book is a well-rounded fun novel.
Overall I enjoyed this book for various reasons, and I recommend it to everyone. All Canadian citizens and newcomers have a responsibility to understand how the government works. One objection to this book may be that it uses challenging vocabulary, idioms, and literary allusions. However, if readers make the time and effort to investigate the meaning of these expressions, they will expand their English language skills. The Best Laid Plans should be read by all Canadians, new and old, because it shares common knowledge about life in a Canadian city, federal politics, and the entertainment that Canadians enjoy daily.

The Best Laid Plans

I chose The Best Laid Plans primarily because of the humour and abstract entertainment portrayed in the text. I believe this aspect will sustain my attention as I read the book. In 2008, The Best Laid Plans won the Stephen Leacock award for humour. The setting of the novel, being Ottawa, instantly piqued my interest because I have visited the city many times and have several friends that live there. I also reckoned that all Canadians should know at least a fragment about the sights, sounds, even smells of their nation’s capital city. The novel’s plot has Canadian politics woven throughout like a tapestry which will teach me more about Canadian parliament with less vexation than other ways of learning such information. It is honest, yet it is fictional. Personally, I admire the author, Terry Fallis; he had a message to impart in his novel and did not give up, even when he was repeatedly turned down by publishers. He persevered and published the engaging book on his own. I find his entrepreneurial spirit inspiring. Fallis is a Canadian himself and is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He has a rock solid grasp of Canadian culture and politics. By constructing this book, he bestowed the erudite knowledge that he has been gaining his entire life. Fallis promises to reveal the “Machiavellian machinations,” or the deceitful inner workings, of Parliament Hill. This is intriguing to me. As a final note, I think this book can be easily defended as a book that all Canadians and newcomers should read in order to aggrandize their insight into Canadian culture and politics.