The Humans by Matt Haig - Book Review

When Professor Andrew Martin discovers the secret of prime numbers, something unusual happens to him.

In his book, The Humans, Matt Haig writes about body-snatching in a humorous way. Professor Andrew Martin becomes the victim of an alien invasion that takes over his mind and body. Haig manages to display human conditions and gives an accurate picture of how alien the human race might seem at first.

The novel opens with the alien narrator finding himself in the body of the professor, as he struggles to find his way into the human world to understand how humans function. The alien narrator depicts the ironies of life on earth through the eyes of humans.

He mentions that “the key rule is, if you want to appear sane on Earth you have to be in the right place, wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and only stepping on the right kind of grass.”

Matt Haig invites the reader into viewing human life through the point of view of an alien. It is impossible not to laugh and cry at the same time at how our world functions. The sci-fi book makes us fall in love with this alien creature and even sympathize with him as he tells the story.

His attempts to fit into human society shape a struggle; eventually, he manages to improve and adjust to the world until he becomes more human than humans themselves.

The alien becomes increasingly attached to his family and the people on earth. When he rejects murdering the family of the professor, the aliens on his planet decide to take his powers away, as he slowly becomes more and more human.

As he sees the professor’s son going through a hard time and depression, he ends the novel with a poignant and emotional gem, to the human race; advice that sticks with many readers.

“You can’t find happiness looking for the meaning of life. Meaning is only the third most important thing. It comes after loving and being.”