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funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Science fiction/fantasy about a alien who assumes a human form to prevent the release of a scientific discovery that his race does not want humans to have. Written as a journal of the creatures experiences with the human family of the man he replaces, society in Cambridge, England, and the university, moving from disgust and negative thoughts to learning about emotions and relationships. I found the story engaging and charming.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
A book club pick :)
Nice book. I think I wanted more.
An alien is on Earth with a mission: to stop a mathematical breakthrough before anyone finds out about it, because humans are too barbaric to be trusted with it. (“a human is a real bipedal lifeform of mid-range intelligence, living a largely deluded existence on a small water-logged planet in a very lonely corner of the universe.”) So the alien takes over the body of professor Andrew Martin, the mathematician responsible. Andrew Martin dies. (Why are aliens always nasty?)
Then the alien Andrew Martin (I will call him AAM, ha) has to find out who else knew about the maths thing and eliminate them. This means the AAM has to blend in among humans. The disorientation in the beginning of the book is a lot of fun. Humans are insane, awful, cruel, and weird in all kinds of ways. Their planet is strange.
“I was not really used to weather you had to think about. But this was England …”
“Indeed, war and money seemed to be so popular on the news it should
more accurately be described as The War and Money Show.”
Pretending to be human means you have to handle humans, including your “wife” and “son”. AAM does it in his own unique way. Whoa, he has a family now. Perhaps humans merit further study, he tells his “employers”. This is all quite heart-warming and chuckle-worthy. I didn’t think the book handled some of the tragedy and the ethical issues very well, though. From the first pages, I knew this wasn’t the most philosophical novel ever, but it bothered me.
Anyway, AAM discovers that humans can be kind and care about each other. Also, Earth has peanut butter, tea (“it tasted like comfort”), and Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Awww. (This is the second book I read this year that referenced Emily Dickinson. Universe, are you trying to tell me something?)
Naturally, there is a heartbreaking crisis towards the end. The ending is nice, there is hope for AAM.
Throughout the book, we are veering dangerously close to twee and the astute exploration of human condition that is Hallmark. I am very thankful we never crossed the line! I did have fun and a few warm chuckles.
Favourite quote:
”There is only one genre in fiction. The genre is called “book”.
Nice book. I think I wanted more.
An alien is on Earth with a mission: to stop a mathematical breakthrough before anyone finds out about it, because humans are too barbaric to be trusted with it. (“a human is a real bipedal lifeform of mid-range intelligence, living a largely deluded existence on a small water-logged planet in a very lonely corner of the universe.”) So the alien takes over the body of professor Andrew Martin, the mathematician responsible. Andrew Martin dies. (Why are aliens always nasty?)
Then the alien Andrew Martin (I will call him AAM, ha) has to find out who else knew about the maths thing and eliminate them. This means the AAM has to blend in among humans. The disorientation in the beginning of the book is a lot of fun. Humans are insane, awful, cruel, and weird in all kinds of ways. Their planet is strange.
“I was not really used to weather you had to think about. But this was England …”
“Indeed, war and money seemed to be so popular on the news it should
more accurately be described as The War and Money Show.”
Pretending to be human means you have to handle humans, including your “wife” and “son”. AAM does it in his own unique way. Whoa, he has a family now. Perhaps humans merit further study, he tells his “employers”. This is all quite heart-warming and chuckle-worthy. I didn’t think the book handled some of the tragedy and the ethical issues very well, though. From the first pages, I knew this wasn’t the most philosophical novel ever, but it bothered me.
Anyway, AAM discovers that humans can be kind and care about each other. Also, Earth has peanut butter, tea (“it tasted like comfort”), and Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Awww. (This is the second book I read this year that referenced Emily Dickinson. Universe, are you trying to tell me something?)
Naturally, there is a heartbreaking crisis towards the end. The ending is nice, there is hope for AAM.
Throughout the book, we are veering dangerously close to twee and the astute exploration of human condition that is Hallmark. I am very thankful we never crossed the line! I did have fun and a few warm chuckles.
Favourite quote:
”There is only one genre in fiction. The genre is called “book”.
First impression, a few chapters in:
Mork calling Orson, Come in Orson.
For you readers out there who hear 'aliens' and 'mathematics' and think, 'This book is not for me," hang on. The alien bits are brief and really beside the point. The Humans is a lyrical and loving discovery of human (and dog) life in a wealthy college town. If you devoured Richard Bach books (Bridge Across Forever, Jonathan Livingston Seagull) in junior high or high school, reading will give you a little zotz of nostalgia and sweetness. If you enjoy language and a well-crafted sentence, you will find yourself wanting to jot down so many of the ways that the alien Andrew Martin describes his experiences and observances. Now that I've returned the book to the library, I do wish I had gone back and written all those down.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to feel good, who perhaps wants a reminder of why it's all worthwhile. It's also a great book for young (teen-college) readers who enjoy a little light profundity. (That sounds dismissive, but I don't mean it that way.)
I liked this book, but here's a quibble: There's all this emphasis on the fact that humans solving the Riemann Hypothesis somehow endangers the universe, but it's never made clear. Haig also alludes to advanced math and science but doesn't include any of it (beyond some fun with prime numbers) in the actual book. It felt like he just tossed it out there but didn't care if we believed it. In the end, it seems much more believable that the whole story is a narrative of one man's return to life after a nervous breakdown.
Mork calling Orson, Come in Orson.
For you readers out there who hear 'aliens' and 'mathematics' and think, 'This book is not for me," hang on. The alien bits are brief and really beside the point. The Humans is a lyrical and loving discovery of human (and dog) life in a wealthy college town. If you devoured Richard Bach books (Bridge Across Forever, Jonathan Livingston Seagull) in junior high or high school, reading
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to feel good, who perhaps wants a reminder of why it's all worthwhile. It's also a great book for young (teen-college) readers who enjoy a little light profundity. (That sounds dismissive, but I don't mean it that way.)
I liked this book, but here's a quibble: There's all this emphasis on the fact that humans solving the Riemann Hypothesis somehow endangers the universe, but it's never made clear. Haig also alludes to advanced math and science but doesn't include any of it (beyond some fun with prime numbers) in the actual book. It felt like he just tossed it out there but didn't care if we believed it. In the end, it seems much more believable that the whole story is a narrative of one man's return to life after a nervous breakdown.
This one came highly recommended, and the recommender didn't steer me wrong. Don't let the premise scare you off, even if you don't typically read scifi: this is a very fun, very readable book, with all kinds of great insight about what it means to be human. A quick, page-turning, hilarious, life-affirming novel!
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have had this book on my shelf for a long time and finally read it this week. It’s instantly a favorite. I haven’t read anything like this ever. It’s science fiction, dark comedy, and a reflection on human life and what makes it worth living. This book started off with a bang and had me literally laughing out loud alone in my living room, and ended with me sobbing into my cat reading “Advice for a Human”
This book tackles some pretty adult issues in a witty, clever, but insightful way. Suicide, infidelity, and mortality are all tackled from the unique perspective of a living being dropped into human existence for the very first time. But even from that perspective, Haig reminds that we are all experiencing this life for the very first time. And it’s difficult, painful, challenging, and devastating but also somehow all worth living through human connection, good poetry, the love of a dog, and peanut butter sandwiches.
I don’t think I’ll ever find another book like this again and know it (or at least “advice for a human”) will be my go-to reread when I need some comfort about how bad life sucks sometimes.
This book tackles some pretty adult issues in a witty, clever, but insightful way. Suicide, infidelity, and mortality are all tackled from the unique perspective of a living being dropped into human existence for the very first time. But even from that perspective, Haig reminds that we are all experiencing this life for the very first time. And it’s difficult, painful, challenging, and devastating but also somehow all worth living through human connection, good poetry, the love of a dog, and peanut butter sandwiches.
I don’t think I’ll ever find another book like this again and know it (or at least “advice for a human”) will be my go-to reread when I need some comfort about how bad life sucks sometimes.