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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
who’d have thought this would be the thing to for the first time in my life genuinely make me think twice about bashing intelligent design
The plot was okay, I guess, but the character development needed a lot of work. The character of Ellie was completley unidentifiable as human. I think that Carl Sagan designed her with creating a female character in mind, because she seems to be a composite of female stereotypes without substance.
She's a complete cipher, and it completely ruined the book for me.
She's a complete cipher, and it completely ruined the book for me.
I had read this book for the Sci-fi book group I am in. I have loved the movie based on this book for years, so it was often hard for me to separate the two while reading.
This book really digs deep into the conversation of religion and science in a way that was really lost in the movie. I am not sure if I am projecting, but it seems like Sagan was maybe writing not of his own struggles of theology, but musing at how undifferent the bases of science and religion really are.
A pretty thinky Sci-fi for sure, but just enough of a good moving story to be enjoyable and not like you are reading never ending paragraphs of physics.
This book really digs deep into the conversation of religion and science in a way that was really lost in the movie. I am not sure if I am projecting, but it seems like Sagan was maybe writing not of his own struggles of theology, but musing at how undifferent the bases of science and religion really are.
A pretty thinky Sci-fi for sure, but just enough of a good moving story to be enjoyable and not like you are reading never ending paragraphs of physics.
One of my absolute number ones ever. I could say that, together with Sagan's TV series Cosmos, this book changed my life. I can never recommend it enough.
For being a very accomplished scientist, Carl Sagan is able to convey the same awe I, a very amateur admirer of the stars, feel when I look up. We recently watched his series, Cosmos, and the film Contact has long been one of my favorites. I finally got around to reading the book and it is going on the favorite list. It is a spiritual journey for Ellie, our heroine, and reader alike. Sagan is able to look at something so vast as the universe and boil it down to something simple: love. Love of family, love of science, love of the unknown... I HIGHLY recommend this book.
I'm not generally into sci-fi, but I think it's just because I haven't read very many good ones. Contact is a sci-fi classic and I can understand why - I loved it and was absolutely hooked after about 50 pages or so into it.
It had a great balance of just enough physics and science, to make the scenario seem plausible, whilst also having an amazing storyline (being contacted by aliens!) and colourful characters who seemed dysfunctional enough to be realistic (lol!). I especially liked the main protagonist Ellie, and the evolution of her character throughout the years. I did find that some of the text can seem a bit direct or obvious (perhaps even a little dry at times?) but the deeper questions that are posed to the reader more than make up for it.
I didn't expect the book to carry so much of a religious undertone, but I think Sagan melds the themes of cosmology and religion beautifully and I finished the book with a feeling of wonderment and appreciation... and a renewed love for physics. I was also really happy about how it ended, though there was a point where I did wonder where Sagan was going with 50 pages left!
Read this if you want to see how the human race might realistically play out a situation where intelligent extraterrestrial life makes contact with us. Don't read this if you're expecting some kind of Independence Day movie scenario.
It had a great balance of just enough physics and science, to make the scenario seem plausible, whilst also having an amazing storyline (being contacted by aliens!) and colourful characters who seemed dysfunctional enough to be realistic (lol!). I especially liked the main protagonist Ellie, and the evolution of her character throughout the years. I did find that some of the text can seem a bit direct or obvious (perhaps even a little dry at times?) but the deeper questions that are posed to the reader more than make up for it.
Spoiler
What is the point to life? Do we need the concept of religion? Where are the boundaries between cosmology and religion? Does the human race need something bigger to rally against and bring out the best in itself? How would extraterrestrials make contact and if they do, how should we respond?I didn't expect the book to carry so much of a religious undertone, but I think Sagan melds the themes of cosmology and religion beautifully and I finished the book with a feeling of wonderment and appreciation... and a renewed love for physics. I was also really happy about how it ended, though there was a point where I did wonder where Sagan was going with 50 pages left!
Read this if you want to see how the human race might realistically play out a situation where intelligent extraterrestrial life makes contact with us. Don't read this if you're expecting some kind of Independence Day movie scenario.
I disliked this book less as it went along. I found the writing fairly clunky and there was a lot that was tedious in getting Ellie from childhood to adulthood and getting the Machine(s) built; I guess I would have preferred this as a collection of short stories.
I found the climax of the book to be a bit of a letdown, and the final revelation seemed unnecessary. My favorite part of the book, not surprising given the author, was its depictions of scale - how insects and animals see humans, how humans might see other civilizations, and. The extension of the 'chain of being' was nice.
It was interesting to reflect on what is dated as this 35-year-old book (technology, especially around communication) and what is pretty fresh (discussions of gender in science, a female President of the usa).
I found the climax of the book to be a bit of a letdown, and the final revelation seemed unnecessary. My favorite part of the book, not surprising given the author, was its depictions of scale - how insects and animals see humans, how humans might see other civilizations, and
Spoiler
how civilizations that may seem highly advanced to humans could be to other civilizations as simple as we are to a more advanced civilizationIt was interesting to reflect on what is dated as this 35-year-old book (technology, especially around communication) and what is pretty fresh (discussions of gender in science, a female President of the usa).
I had no idea Carl Sagan was such a feminist! This is quite different from the film and has so much merit...however, a great editor could have made this into an incredible book.
I loved how this book analyzed a character and gave her a beautiful arc while also being so incredibly smart and basing everything on what maybe could happen.
This is a re-read for me, but seeing as I hadn't reviewed it before on Goodreads, I thought I would say a few words about it.
Sagan's only science fiction novel still rates 5 stars for me. Contact is a wonderful look at the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the relationships between science and religion. Like the most books, the novel offers far more depth than you'll find in the movie, especially the novel's deep and moving ending.
Sagan's only science fiction novel still rates 5 stars for me. Contact is a wonderful look at the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the relationships between science and religion. Like the most books, the novel offers far more depth than you'll find in the movie, especially the novel's deep and moving ending.