The bestselling, award-winning author of The Radleys is back with his funniest, most devastating dark comedy yet, a “silly, sad, suspenseful, and soulful” (Philadelphia Inquirer) novel that’s “full of heart” (Entertainment Weekly).
When an extra-terrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a … form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to complete the gruesome task assigned him and hurry home to his own utopian planet, where everyone is omniscient and immortal.
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, their capacity for murder and war, and is equally baffled by the concepts of love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this strange species than he had thought. Disguised as Martin, he drinks wine, reads poetry, develops an ear for rock music, and a taste for peanut butter. Slowly, unexpectedly, he forges bonds with Martin’s family. He begins to see hope and beauty in the humans’ imperfection, and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.
Praised by The New York Times as a “novelist of great seriousness and talent,” author Matt Haig delivers an unlikely story about human nature and the joy found in the messiness of life on Earth. The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable tale that playfully and movingly explores the ultimate subject—ourselves.
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An immortal alien is dispatched to earth to eliminate those who know of a mathematical discovery by a professor. It seems humans are not intelligent enough to deal with the knowledge of this discovery. The alien impersonates the professor living with his wife and son while he determines who knows too much and must be eliminated. His objective observations are profound and he eventually gets drawn into our imperfect world of feelings and contradictions as he discovers simple pleasures such as dogs, peanut butter, and poetry. He begins to care about his “family” and our flawed species making his mission more difficult. There’s much wisdom in this story as the alien becomes more “human.” A brilliant insightful page turner!
This book was an experience.
I had just read “everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too”, by Jonny Sun, and this felt like a deeper exploration of what that book was about.
It is surprisingly easy to relate to the the nameless alien, as it is easy to question our humanity through his perspective.
I loved reading this novel!
Very entertaining, and funny. A different perspective on human nature.
Different, interesting, touching, and funny. What more could you ask for? I enjoyed this one.
Satire on the human condition. So well written. Couldn’t put it down, like all of Haig’s books, but this one was special.-
Matt Haig’s The Humans is unique. It’s a first hand look at our species from the outside in. There were parts I enjoyed, parts I felt were slow, and parts I skimmed. The humor is dry. I enjoyed the focus on Emily Dickinson, and how the main characters becomes humanized by the his exposure to humans (at least a particular few of us).
I love how Matt Haig embraces a concept and runs with it – but for me, the big plus is not just the humour, but the heart.
If I ever read a feel-good book, this is it. It is humanity-affirming, optimistic and generous of heart.
An alien being takes on a human form – that of professor of mathematics, Andrew – and comes down to earth to kill everybody whom the professor may have appraised of his great discovery that would give humans knowledge for which they aren’t ready. Flowed, weird and utterly illogical to the alien, unbeknown to themselves, the humans manage to charm him and get a stay of execution.
The book is entirely predictable. I am not betraying any great secrets or twists for there aren’t any. You will know very soon into the book that the humans in Andrew’s life will get our alien onto their side. But the predictability doesn’t matter. It is the spirit of this book that is so sweet and so endearing that you will want to keep reading. It is also the poignancy and almost Christ-like self-sacrifice of our alien that captures your heart. And last but not least, it is the hilarity of the alien’s observations of human rituals and his definitions of our everyday objects. Seen from the perspective of an alien, we are laughable – in a good way.
This book is written from the point of view of an alien coming to earth. The descriptions of regular stuff as the alien sees it (he often ponders why humans are so obsessed with squares) are really great, but he also puts some great messages in there as far as “advice” for humans go.
One of the most intelligent and thought-provoking works I’ve read in a long time. Deeply explores the state of humanity…and is also laugh-out-loud funny.
Beautiful concept
This was our book club’s summer reading choice. I loved the writing style of this author and the way he wove the tale of the Vonnadorian alien come to Earth. The way Matt Haig explores daily human life and explains it in such a powerful way through the eyes of an alien who has been taught that Earth and its inhabitants are merely primitive; was amazing. It made this reader more aware of just how lucky we are to live each day on this planet; hopefully with loved ones in our lives and if not, to make our lives good, fruitful ones. I don’t want to spoil this story for anyone that wants to read it; so it is hard for me to write anything specific. I loved the chapter Advice for a Human. It was such an interesting story that kept me engrossed from beginning to end. I feel as though the main characters are 3 dimensional making this reader empathize with them. A remarkable book! Loved it.