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Book Group - Sept 2014 - The Humans -Discussion thread

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McGoohan Oct 2014 7:29pm, 8 Oct 2014 12,763 posts	0 McGoohan That's three times three. So B has rescored it a 9. Which is a prime. (In a different universe)
.B. Oct 2014 7:38pm, 8 Oct 2014 12,582 posts	0 .B. 9 a prime, you nearly had me there..
WtnMel Oct 2014 12:30pm, 9 Oct 2014 518 posts	0 WtnMel I finished "The Humans" a few days ago. I approached it with an open mind and no pre-conceptions and quite enjoyed the "alien looks at everyday things with a different point of view" bits of the book - caused me to perform a few virtual nods of my head to agree with how daft some things can seem. And I sort-of enjoyed being taken along by the narrative. But although I was trying to suspend disbelief throughout (because it's just a story) there were bits of the storyline I thought were clunky and badly written and which jarred. I found it difficult to believe they would ever happen without someone reacting to it in some way. I know it's just a story and one involving an alien at that - but at times the human response to things didn't seem right. I'm not sure if Matt Haig was trying to make any big points with this book about human nature etc. If he was, I'm afraid it was all lost on me. But then maybe I'm just shallow and read it as a story - and missed the hidden messages within!
Columba Oct 2014 3:15pm, 9 Oct 2014 5,300 posts	0 Columba Surely 9 could not be a prime in any universe? I absolutely agree with .B. on The List.
McGoohan Oct 2014 10:45pm, 24 Oct 2014 12,953 posts	0 McGoohan He has a follow up/cash in/type thing out amazon.co.uk Despite what Amazon say about it being released on 1 Jan 2015, I saw a copy of this - well a pile actually - in Waterstones.
Diogenes Oct 2014 10:49pm, 24 Oct 2014 7,717 posts	0 Diogenes Yep, it's already out there. I believe there might be a charity tie-in with a mental health charity
.B. Oct 2014 10:51pm, 24 Oct 2014 12,782 posts	0 .B. He almost bored me to death with his list, a whole book that is a list isn't for me!
Fizz :-) Nov 2014 9:34pm, 12 Nov 2014 1,220 posts	0 Fizz :-) Finally, I got round to buying the book. I really liked it, I didn't spot any of the inconsistencies that you've all pointed out. I had to sternly resist turning to the last page, to find out if he really was an alien, or just a human having a breakdown, although I did read cheat slightly by reading Matt's afterword quite early on. I loved the list, Leonardo Da Vinci made me laugh out loud, which is quite rare for me when reading.
Diogenes Nov 2014 6:57am, 13 Nov 2014 7,832 posts	0 Diogenes It's good to hear someone totally enjoying it.
Wriggling Snake Dec 2014 11:19am, 19 Dec 2014 8,232 posts	0 Wriggling Snake page 110, I was caught in a huge traffic jam last night on the bus, so I read about 8- pages, better now he's killed someone and is stroking the dog.