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squid_vicious 's review for:
The Humans
by Matt Haig
Dammit. I hate when this happens…
A famous (and insufferable) mathematician solves the Riemann hypothesis, a leap in knowledge guaranteed to change everything for humanity, but a distant alien species is of the opinion think that humanity, being rather a primitive and violent species, wouldn't use that fresh knowledge well, so they send an agent to infiltrate the mathematician’s life, by killing and impersonating him, to snip this whole situation in the bud. But things quickly don’t go as planned because the alien’s perspective on humans changes as he interacts with a very dysfunctional family and a friendly dog.
The writing is not bad, and there are very funny observation about a lot of human absurdities, but I found the premise quite predictable, and I got inexplicably annoyed at the alien’s immediate mastery of British semantics… You know, I agree with the aliens’ opinion that humanity is not “mature” enough to use a lot its scientific discoveries smartly. We could make lives better and easier for ourselves, but instead we make weapons and destroy our own environment. Other sci-fi writers have tackled this before, from the more serious (Octavia Butler) to the whimsical (Catherynne Valente) perspective, and maybe I am cynical and crabby, but this attempt at the cute and uplifting perspective didn’t enchant me as much as I was hoping it would. That said, I appreciate that he refers to dogs as small domestic deities, because that's totally what pets are when you think about it, and I now refer to my cat's elaborate cat-tree as her shrine.
A lot of people love this book, and now I feel like a cranky old granny giving it 3 stars, which is sill not a bad rating at all. I think that perhaps my expectations affected my enjoyment of a light, sweet and optimistic little book.
A famous (and insufferable) mathematician solves the Riemann hypothesis, a leap in knowledge guaranteed to change everything for humanity, but a distant alien species is of the opinion think that humanity, being rather a primitive and violent species, wouldn't use that fresh knowledge well, so they send an agent to infiltrate the mathematician’s life, by killing and impersonating him, to snip this whole situation in the bud. But things quickly don’t go as planned because the alien’s perspective on humans changes as he interacts with a very dysfunctional family and a friendly dog.
The writing is not bad, and there are very funny observation about a lot of human absurdities, but I found the premise quite predictable, and I got inexplicably annoyed at the alien’s immediate mastery of British semantics… You know, I agree with the aliens’ opinion that humanity is not “mature” enough to use a lot its scientific discoveries smartly. We could make lives better and easier for ourselves, but instead we make weapons and destroy our own environment. Other sci-fi writers have tackled this before, from the more serious (Octavia Butler) to the whimsical (Catherynne Valente) perspective, and maybe I am cynical and crabby, but this attempt at the cute and uplifting perspective didn’t enchant me as much as I was hoping it would. That said, I appreciate that he refers to dogs as small domestic deities, because that's totally what pets are when you think about it, and I now refer to my cat's elaborate cat-tree as her shrine.
A lot of people love this book, and now I feel like a cranky old granny giving it 3 stars, which is sill not a bad rating at all. I think that perhaps my expectations affected my enjoyment of a light, sweet and optimistic little book.