The Best Laid Plans

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't say that any book about politics is my cup of tea, and I especially know nothing about Canadian politics, but one of my friends is actively trying to make me into a Canadian, and she recommended this book to me (in podcast form, read by the author), and so here we are!

This book was definitely funny! There were lots of laugh out loud moments, especially at the beginning when Daniel is using euphemisms to describe catching his girlfriend inflangrante with her boss. The author has certainly mastered the art of a clever turn of phrase.

Angus McLintock is the best. I wish every politician was like him - people who don't necessarily WANT to be in politics, but who are smart, honest, and straightforward, and willing to rise to the occasion and do what is right. For many years I've thought that the people best suited for running government are perhaps people who have no desire for power, and don't want to be "in politics." Unfortunately, that's rarely who we get because those sort of people rarely run for office, and when they do, they rarely succeed. Angus ended up in office through an unexpected twist of fate, and his lack of desire to please anyone put him in the perfect position to not only stand tall and say what he thinks, but to truly act on his beliefs and affect change, both in the government and in real people's lives.

I can't say that Daniel is my favorite person - he's a little too self-centered and self-aware about what people are thinking and saying. In the end, though, he becomes the perfect foil for Angus, providing just enough guidance when necessary, and being easily steamrolled by Angus when he was not.

The experience of listening to this book as a podcast was a little strange, and I'm not sure if I am a fan or not. It was hard to really get into the book sometimes because each episode had a little intro, including the same music each week, an intro to the book by a voiceover person, and then an intro to the chapter by the author before he began reading. The sound mixing was off in some places, too - he used that same music as an interlude at times, and I couldn't always hear the narration very well over the music. He also seemed to feel the need to reintroduce characters every chapter, especially in the beginning. I lost track of how many times we were told who Daniel was, or that Angus was the liberal candidate for Cumberland Prescott. In the end, I'm willing to look over some of these minor annoyances because I realize that some of these things are necessary when you are in the podcasting process and have a week in between each episode. I would be really curious to see how the book compares between the version the author self-published and podcast, and the version that was eventually edited and published by a major company. There might not be that many, as the book was winning awards in it's self-published state, but I can see places were it could use some tightening up.

I'm definitely curious to read/listen to the sequel. I'm hoping that Lindsay maybe plays a larger role in the next book, because she seems amazing and I feel like we only got to see her in the context of how Daniel liked her. And of course, more of Angus is something not to be missed! I want to see that hovercraft in action again - his wild ride down the snowy, icy river was quite the adventure!

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