The Humans by Matt Haig (2013)
Delightful: Touching
Book cover blurb
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. OR IS THERE?
After an ‘incident’ one wet Friday night where he is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost among an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he’s a dog.
Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race…?
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My Review
Firstly, and simply, what a fantastic read.
I wonder if Matt Haig was a fan of Mork & Mindy from way back in the day, as the main character here constantly made me think of Mork in that show. There seemed to be several nice little similarities. No egg spaceship here but plenty of "Mork calling Orson. Come in, Orson."
I can see this book being so many different things to so many different people. It has so much in it to affect the reader in a lot of different ways, depending on how active your emotional side is. There aren't many books I've read, if indeed any, that I would suggest could be read by any type of reader, but The Humans I think could fit quite nicely on any bookshelf.
On a personal note, I think my own perception of this book may be quite different from that of most other readers. I usually have very strong opinions and reactions to individual books, melancholy, joy, warmth, anger, frustration, annoyance, but I'm quite sure this is the first book I've read that gave me an underlying feeling of fear. I think the reason for this is apparent if you read personal info on the About page. I suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder and I think Matt's reasons for writing this book managed to tap into that issue on a subliminal level. If he had not injected so much humour into the pages, this book may have quite literally crushed my soul...that or drove me back to my childhood addiction of peanut butter sandwiches!
My copy of this novel
Canongate paperback edition.
Published in 2018
291 pages
ISBN 9781786894663