How to be an Alien

Book Review

How to be an Alien, by Nicolas Bentley (1946)

 This week I read How to be an Alien. This book is an essay. I liked this story because it was fun to read.

I wrote down three quotes and will discuss them. The first one is “You must understand that when people say ‘England’, hey sometimes mean ‘Great Britain’ (England, Scotland and Wales), sometimes ‘the United Kingdom’ (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), sometimes the ‘British Isles’ (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) – but never just England.” (p.3) I like this sentence because I didn’t know that. It’s interesting. The second one is “In England people are rude in a very different. If somebody tells you an untrue story, in Europe you say, ‘You are a liar, sir.’ In England you just say, ‘Oh, is that so?’ Or, ‘That’s quite an unusual story, isn’t it?’” (p.17) I thought England people was interesting and difficult. In England people do not often get excited. They do not enjoy many things but they love to queue.” (p.19) I thought England people were proud of themselves. They are like Japanese people live in Kyoto.

 I recommend this book. There are several reasons. First you can know England people well. And this book has an edge of satire. It was fun to read. –it was easy to read but a longer book. I gave this book 5 stars out of 10.