The Humans came recommended, rather Matt Haig came recommended, but he's a hard writer to find. Writing cross-genre makes him hard to pin down. I saw this book in Waterstones one week on a buy-one-get-one-half-price table and nearly bought it then but I was on a different rummage to spend some vouchers on non-fiction. I went back the next week and couldn't find it. I searched various genres and fiction A-Z, still no luck. Finally after asking two members of staff it was found on a table.....I'm sure they'd moved all the books around since I was there the week before!
As soon as I started I was hooked. The story was funny with some interesting objective views on humankind as seen from the perspective of an alien from the planet Vonnadorian.(This was very candid and enlightening!) The narrator arrives on earth and takes the body of mathematician Professor Andrew Martin in order to destroy the evidence of an advancement in maths which Martin appears to have made. He is warned not to be influenced by humans.
Trying to blend in makes for pages of amusing reading. I loved the view that to appear sane on earth you had to wear the right clothes, say the right things and only step on the right kind of grass. I soon took to this alien who, as he investigated the people defined by violence and greed, found a love of poetry and The Beach Boys (stating as his favourite songs two of my all time favouirtes - In My Room and God Only Knows) and a dislike for eating cows - given the name of beef to people didn't know what they were eating.
The book is split into three parts and each has short chapters. taking the reader on a journey of what it is to be human. The narrator soon finds that there is far more to us than he was ever led to believe. Far from destroying Martin's family as he has been asked to, including anyone else who Martin might have revealed his theory to, our alien friend finds a liking for, even love for these people. The Hosts give him an ultimatum, sensing his wavering. What does he do? You'll have to read it yourself if you want to know!
This is an amusing, touching and emotional read. I'm going to lend the book to my son before it heads out to the charity shop or book swop, as it's the kind of thing he would enjoy. I'll be looking out for more of Matt Haig's books in the future.
As soon as I started I was hooked. The story was funny with some interesting objective views on humankind as seen from the perspective of an alien from the planet Vonnadorian.(This was very candid and enlightening!) The narrator arrives on earth and takes the body of mathematician Professor Andrew Martin in order to destroy the evidence of an advancement in maths which Martin appears to have made. He is warned not to be influenced by humans.
Trying to blend in makes for pages of amusing reading. I loved the view that to appear sane on earth you had to wear the right clothes, say the right things and only step on the right kind of grass. I soon took to this alien who, as he investigated the people defined by violence and greed, found a love of poetry and The Beach Boys (stating as his favourite songs two of my all time favouirtes - In My Room and God Only Knows) and a dislike for eating cows - given the name of beef to people didn't know what they were eating.
The book is split into three parts and each has short chapters. taking the reader on a journey of what it is to be human. The narrator soon finds that there is far more to us than he was ever led to believe. Far from destroying Martin's family as he has been asked to, including anyone else who Martin might have revealed his theory to, our alien friend finds a liking for, even love for these people. The Hosts give him an ultimatum, sensing his wavering. What does he do? You'll have to read it yourself if you want to know!
This is an amusing, touching and emotional read. I'm going to lend the book to my son before it heads out to the charity shop or book swop, as it's the kind of thing he would enjoy. I'll be looking out for more of Matt Haig's books in the future.
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