The Humans – Matt Haig

I wasn’t a smart kid. When reading Slaughterhouse-5 for the first time in my mid teens, I was convinced that Billy Pilgrim was actually unstuck in time, and actually dealing with the aliens. It was a bit of an embarrassing moment to later learn that it was all just a metaphor, really.

This is just to say that sometimes I do miss the point. I am ok with that. But I bring it up because of the feeling I got while reading The Humans. Matt Haig is perhaps a more generous author than Vonnegut was, as the sentimental theme of the book is demystified by the author in the acknowledgments section at the end of the book. On the surface the narrative, which follows an Alien who has taken the place of a university professor who has just solved the Riemann Hypothesis in an attempt to ensure that humanity does not progress to far, feels a bit hollow. What the alien does to achieve this feels secondary compared to what he experiences as he doppelgangs a human. And while yes, that’s the point, that’s what reminded me of my childhood reading of Vonnegut. Haig seems to make the metaphor clear, but because the story is fundamentally about the general malaise of being a human, it feels vague. That sentiment is vague, as all of those of us who have suffered from it can attest to.

But something about Haig’s narrative feels thin. It ends feeling largely incomplete, which might once again be the point. Life feels incomplete and pointless sometimes, and while I am fine with that, its not what I come to fictional narratives for. There was unfortunately a little bit more that did not sit right with me regarding this narrative in its details, and while I think someone would try to argue that of course its not the point of this narrative, I would reiterate that I didn’t think too highly of the metaphor either.

So what was I meant to read this for?

Matt Haig has come highly recommended enough for me to give another of his books a shake, but so far I don’t think I am very impressed.