The Humans

The unnamed narrator of this story is an alien from an advanced civilisation, sent to Earth to prevent humans making a major breakthrough in mathematics. Humans - violent, primitive creatures - cannot be trusted with the advanced technology that the knowledge would bring them. The professor who made the breakthrough is dispatched and our narrator takes his place with the mission of destroying all evidence of his discovery and anyone who might know about it. But first of all he has to get to grips with what it means to be human - things like wearing clothes and telling white lies - and soon he finds he's getting rather attached to this bizarre lifeform and less enthusiastic about his brutal task. Of course the concept of someone adjusting to life in a different form from their usual one - humans in the bodies of animals and vice versa, men swapped with women, adults back in children's bodies and children suddenly finding themselves adults - is not a new one. But it is done particularly well here. It's often very funny, but isn't played for laughs or intended as a comedy. The underlying message about what it means to be human and the strange behaviours that make up our 'normal' is profound and moving. It's also got a compelling plot and zips along at a good pace. The short chapters, easy style and growing tension about how the alien will resolve his situation mean it's really hard to put down. I grew to love the character of the alien, and the people around him. so felt very engaged in hoping for a good outcome for them all. All in all this is a great book, both very funny and with genuine depth. Well worth reading.

This book was chosen by my book club. I read the blurb and decided that it was a fairly safe choice - a guy who has some sort of mental health problem and gradually recovers...... Often interesting but I've read lots like this before. So when I opened the book and started reading I was in for a surprise. From page 1 you realise that Professor Andrew Martin has been killed by some sort of alien force and his body has been taken over so that they can perform a mission. The alien then spends the book observing the human race and trying to understand their motivations. Many preconceptions of life on earth are discussed and dispelled. There is a lot of humour, in fact many sections made laugh out loud - eg a cow is treated as a one stop shop for food, liquid refreshment, fertiliser and designer footwear.... All true, but such an unusual way of thinking about it. There is also much pathos as the alien tries to pick up the Professor's life. Reading the book, reality needs to be put aside (it's an alien!?!) but it is important that the plot feels real. The majority of the book is great in this respect but I found myself being stretched too far in the last quarter of the book - admittedly a very difficult plot to finish satisfactorily. I did love all the characters though, in particular Isobel and Gulliver. Also worth noting the authors very personal note at the end of the book which puts the story firmly into perspective and may have been even better at the start.

This is such a lovely book. Beautiful. Elegiac. Philosophical. And about as honest appraisal of the ridiculous lives us humans lead as you'll ever find in fiction. You need to read it, right now. Actually, it's a hug of a book, a story that will resonate with everyone, a story of what it is to be human by someone who is dispassionate enough to really know. Starman meets the Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time x The Man Who Fell to Earth. When Professor Andrew Martin solves an enormously complex algorithm that unlocks the secret of prime numbers, solving the Riemann equation that has been unresolved for years, he just has to die. And our nameless alien protagonist is sent to kill him across space and time, replacing him physically so as to use the unfortunate Professor's body to find out who else has learnt the secret of the Riemann equation so they too can be killed. This superior knowledge cannot be left in human hands, because, you see, the Riemann solution will enable humans, once enough of them have understood it, to advance so rapidly they'll be able to spread across the known Universe. Something the superior beings sending our assassin cannot allow to happen. There's just one flaw in their plan. In order to blend in as a human, the alien assassin takes the form of one and begins to fall in love with our chaotic and ridiculous lives. Professor Andrew Martin, turns out, is a bit of a bastard. Emotionally distant from his wife and teenage son, Gulliver, a workaholic with no time for anyone but the pursuit of mathematical supremacy he has few friends and even fewer redeeming features. But as the alien settles into the man's skin the absurdity of our all too brief lives begins to intrigue it. And slowly, impossibly and against the express wishes of its superiors back across space and time, the assassin begins to do the impossible. It begins to feel emotions, experience joy and depression, yearning and love and actually, to enjoy being human. As the alien becomes more and more deeply embroiled in human existence he doesn't want to leave and this leads him into inevitable trouble with the bug-eyed boys back home. The Humans is beautifully, sparingly written and there's a gem of wisdom and reflection on every page. It's a page turner too (I gobbled it in a day and a half this summer holiday) and it speaks deeply to us about what should and is important. As our alien sinks deeper and deeper into the human world he sees afresh what we have forgotten, how the very fleeting impossibility of our brief stint in the sun, makes it such a beautiful and amazing thing to be cherished. This book will slap you round the face, mindfulness, philosophy, existentialism all wrapped up in a plot that drives us forward to a poignant and deeply reflective ending. This is such a humane book, detailing our mistakes and pecadillos, lauding them actually, a exploration of our absurdities which will make you smile and cry, sometimes on the self-same page. Within its pages we turn into anthropologists of our own curious species and through these new eyes learn to see our world afresh. Feeling down, despairing and bleak about the world (let's face it there's enough to be depressed about) read this honest, humane and deeply beautiful book. Poetry disguised as prose, wisdom disguised as popular fiction. The author has a wonderful voice; calm, gentle and so very kind its like music. Matt Haig is the very best kind of genius, one who makes us want to strive harder to live better lives, of us, among us, with us on this ultimately tragic trudge beneath the stars. Brilliant. A rare and thoroughly well deserved Five Stars (*****)

I read this book in a day, during several hours of waiting for and then being on a plane, and I did enjoy it overall. It's well written, and like many people have said, it can does cut down to your emotions when new Andrew starts learning what it is to be a human, and what it is to feel love. However, I felt a couple of things spoilt the overall book for me, and made it feel a bit cheaper in my mind. I've tried to avoid the next paragraphs being spoilers, but if you're really worried then maybe avoid it. Firstly, this ultra intelligent enhanced being arrives on a new planet, having taken the place and body of Andrew, a mathematician who has discovered a powerful secret. But this ultra intelligent alien doesn't know a single thing about humans. Despite the fact that they kidnap humans, they monitor them enough to know exactly what they're working on, this alien has gone down to earth and is unaware that rain isn't toxic, that you have to wear clothes, that cars don't drive themselves. Despite the fact he brags that he only needs to hear 100 words to understand a whole language, he doesn't do this before arrival, but instead learns from Cosmo so he can discuss orgasms. I get it that's it's funny, but I also found it got old really fast, and really didn't make huge amounts of sense. Maybe I'm over thinking it. There was also a list of life lessons that Alien Andrew passes on that really felt like a list from a motivational site from the Internet full of corny platitudes. Dance like nobody is watching, love like you've never been hurt, eat like you're never going to eat again. There were 100 of them, or near enough. I skipped three pages and then felt guilty and went back. I also felt the Maggie part was a bit jarring considering the Isobel line that actually did get me a bit emotional, but maybe that was just a reminder that Andrew still was alien underneath it all. I felt like it cut something away though. Don't let those take away from it being an enjoyable book, and I think I'd still recommend it to friends. But I'm not sure if I agree with the near 5 star average.

I've always wanted to read The Humans by Matt Haig; it always sounded intriguing. So when I noticed the eBook was only 99p, I nabbed it up quickly. And I'm so glad I did, it's such a wonderful novel. Professor Andrew Martin is no longer Professor Andrew Martin. He was kidnapped and killed by aliens, and replaced by one of their own. Why? Because he discovered the answer to a mathmatical problem that had been plaguing the greatest mathmaticians for a terribly long time. And solving that problem will mean humans progress to a level that is dangerous to the rest of the universe, what with out greed and our violence. The new Andrew has one mission: delete all evidence of Andrew's work, and kill anyone who knows he found the answer - plus his wife and son, just to be safe. But as time passes, new Andrew find that these people he feared, these people whose ugly features revolted him, are capable of compassion, selflessness, art, and are far more complex than his kind ever understood. While he spends his time on Earth, new Andrew discovers what it means to be human. This book was just brilliant. At first, it was just funny; the alien - who doesn't have a name, because his kind have no need for names - would get everything wrong, and also be so bewildered by us and how we live. I would be laughing out loud quite hysterically in the staff room at work, and have colleagues wanting to know what I was reading that was so funny. From this view point of an outsider looking in, it made some of the things we humans do without even thinking about it seem so bizarre, at times funny, but also thought-provoking. But as the story goes on, it gets a little more serious, as the alien changes by being exposed to art, experiences the kindness of humans, and comes to care for Andrew's wife, Isobel and his son, Gulliver. The whole story then becomes something different; it's still funny, but it feels more real. It goes from being a comedy to being so completely wonderful, and such a joy to read. There is a moment when the alien writes Gulliver a list full of advice, which is less specific to Gulliver, and more advice we could all follow. It was so moving and eye-opening and thought-provoking. It was actually really beautiful. The Humans is a completely wonderful story, and I would highly, highly recommend it.

Firstly, and simply, what a fantastic read. I wonder if Matt Haig was a fan of Mork & Mindy from way back in the day, as the main character here constantly made me think of Mork in that show. There seemed to be a number of nice little similarities. No egg space ship here but plenty of "Mork calling Orson. Come in Orson." I can see this book being so many different things to so many different people. It has so much in it to affect the reader in a lot of different ways, depending on how active your emotional side is. There aren't many books I've read, if indeed any, that I would suggest could be read by any type of reader, but The Humans I think could fit quite nicely on any bookshelf. On a personal note, I think my own perception of this book may be quite different from that of most other readers. I usually have very strong opinions and reactions to individual books, melancholy, joy, warmth, anger, frustration, annoyance. But I'm quite sure this is the first book I've read that gave me an underlying feeling of fear. I think the reason for this is apparent if you read the author's note toward the back of the book. I suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder and I think Matt's reasons for writing this book managed to tap into that issue on quite a subliminal level. If he had not injected so much humour into the pages, this book may have quite literally crushed my soul...that or drove me back to my childhood addiction of peanut-butter sandwiches!

What does it mean to be human ? I really enjoyed this book, both nerve racking at times and heartwarming at others. Its sets an even pace throughout, developing all the characters thoroughly such that you really do care about them. I really hope Matt writes a sequel as there is massive scope to develop this story from an ending that is both satisfying and open. It rather makes you feel better about being who you are despite the flaws we all have. The 'list' when you get to that part of the book wouldnt have been amiss being carried down from Mount Sinai. The more I think about the book having read it, the more I realise that Matt Haig has by way of entertainment with a new take on Alien visitors makes you really think hard about who you are and what you do. Cleverly it leads you in to thinking about self worth from the perspective of what is actually important when you strip everything else away. Putting to one side the message that I feel Matt puts across in the book, it is in itself a fabulous story, funny in places and sad in others, tension and relief in equal measure with futuristic technology thats so advanced its barely separable from magic. Its an easy read, not too long or short and the perfect companion to an afternoon of tea and reading.

What does it mean to be human? It is power, money and possessions? Or is it sociological, like community and family? Or is it more abstract, like love? These are the questions that the unnamed alien narrator in Matt Haig’s The Humans ponders, as he attempts to halt mankind’s progress at the behest of his masters, the Vonnadorians. The alien has been sent to Earth in place of Professor Andrew Martin, of the University of Cambridge, who has solved the Riemann hypothesis, which says there is a pattern to be found in the infinite number of prime numbers (just don’t, it will drive you insane), but died before telling anyone. The Vonnadorians are a technologically superior species from galaxies away, who enjoy all of the results from solving mathematics’ biggest mystery. But they fear what will happen to the universe if a species like humanity solves the prime number puzzle, so without logic and infested with emotion as they are. What results is the most heart-warming story, in which a completely alien man struggles to understand clothes, the news, teenagers, rectangle rooms and much more. He hates the rain, is sickened by human food, and finds everyone physically repulsive. And his mission is one of sabotage and murder, instructed as he is to remove all knowledge of and reference to Martin’s solution to the Riemann hypothesis. But slowly, as Haig uses the alien narrator’s naivety to full comedic effect, he comes to see the logic in humanity and how it can be both brilliant and brutal, impatient and lazy. He grows to love his adopted family, yearns for his ‘wife’ to hold his hand, and ultimately chooses to stay, with his mission seemingly complete, rather than return home. The comedy is a joy to read, because it crosses the full spectrum of humour. The narrator considers attractiveness to be largely glandular, peanut butter sandwiches to be fine fare for Australian wine, and cows to be one-stop shops for mankind, given that they can be visited for food, drink and designer handbags. Then there is the slapstick, when the narrator walks naked through the streets of Cambridge, unable to grasp the mistakes he makes in walking in the road and depositing the appropriate quantity of spit in front of passers-by. The Humans is as funny as science fiction can be, even as it strives to answer the question of what it means to be human. The plot eventually turns the alien narrator on his head, making him defender of the family he was sent to kill. And he must do so without the ‘gifts’ that gave him an advantage, so he becomes as weak and vulnerable as those around him, and that much more human, and that much more fallible. This switch is a well-executed metaphor for humanity, as full as it is with juxtaposition, irony and the search for identity. The narrator forgets what is to be Vonnadorian and grows to hate the colour purple, even though he was that colour in his true form. This reversal of character is Haig’s best guess to the question that the narrator ponders throughout The Humans, that humanity doesn’t really mean anything but the sum of its parts, and all 25,000 days that those parts spend together, in chaotic harmony.