The Humans

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Haig will be 46 on Saturday. For his first 40 years, life was a struggle. In many ways, it is still a struggle – he has anxiety and tinnitus and says he is always alert to the danger of depression returning – but at least now he is riding the crest of a wave of commercial success. A brilliant exploration of what it is to love, and to be human, The Humans is both heartwarming and hilarious, weird, and utterly wonderful. One of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. S J Watson Perhaps his people are just so used to lying and violence not being a thing that they did just accept what they were told with no questions, but that seems unlikely too based on how much they questioned him. You shouldn’t have been born. Your existence is as close to impossible as can be. To dismiss the impossible is to dismiss yourself.” I thought that the society the alien came from didn't seem to have much freedom being always spied on and everyone being the same. Their talk of taking over the planet when they became too numerous, and just killing people outright made me think that they weren't a good society for all their superiority. Anyone else find that? Seemed there was the Host and then everyone else. The author could have done more with that.

Ryan wrote: "I'm sure they suspected if not outright knew what happened, and just decided to let it be." Except for the fact that people just talked about his experience in sly references not head on. Even his family didn't deal with it well. I thought what was more impressive was the kid's reaction to the father's issue. His brush with suicide was moving - I felt his dispair with life. I really liked the dog and all of the scenes between the alien and the dog. But authors, please stop feeding dogs toxic foods! :p It would have been more funny when the dog ate the “Earth” if it hadn’t been a grape. A novel with an enormous heart, infused with a sense of gratitude for everything that makes us who we are" (Charlotte Heathcote Daily Express)Peanut butter sandwiches go perfectly well with a glass of white wine. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise... The narrator arrives on earth, looking exactly like Professor Martin. (We are never told how the real Martin was done away with. He never puts in an appearance in this novel.) The Humans gives a very clever, humorous and detached look at why we are the way we are, why we're such a beautiful mess of a species. On the mathematics side, many years ago I did a few university distance learning maths (English) units, including one on the history of mathematics. I was surprised at how many of the early philosophers were also leading mathematicians. This book reminded me of the idea that mathematics is the basis of everything (after all, according to The Hitchhikers Guide number 42 is the answer to everything).

Sandy wrote: "Does anyone think that the author is making a comment on our tendancy to do the same with the stewardship we have on this planet and those that depend on it?"This is a book I can see myself returning to again and again. I love it! Curiosity Killed The Bookworm In August 2012 my brother died by suicide. In the dark days and weeks immediately after his death I read almost incessantly. I couldn't sleep because when I closed my eyes all I could see was his body (I had to go to the mortuary with my father to formally identify his body.) When I was awake I read so I could bear the raw grief ripping at my heart. I believe that it's thanks to books I survived those days, I'm not sure how I'd have coped without books giving me a respite from my at times overwhelming reality. This must be one of the most muted and personal alien invasion stories that you will come across. As the narrator admits, this is more magical realism than science fiction in many ways. The bestselling, award-winning author of The Midnight Library offers his funniest, most devastating dark comedy yet, a “silly, sad, suspenseful, and soulful” ( Philadelphia Inquirer ) novel that’s “full of heart” ( Entertainment Weekly ). New technology, on Earth, just means something you will laugh at in five years. Value the stuff you won’t laugh at in five years. Like love. Or a good poem. Or a song. Or the sky.