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elliegottlieb 's review for:
Contact
by Carl Sagan
Backstory: It's quarantine time. I'm sitting at home furiously writing a review about a book that I was really looking forward to but ended up truly despising. I did what every reader is not supposed to do and watched the movie before I read the book. The consequence? I hated the book.
First of all, I had some major issues with the novel.
1. The BLATANT sexism:
Sagan writes that Ellie Arroway was "distressed" when she didn't get more than a goodnight kiss from a fellow scientist, whose "sexual escapades were legendary among his colleagues." This is just a classic example of the problems that arise when a man writes from a woman's perspective. I really don't think that Sagan understands that females are not "DISTRESSED" when they're not sexually involved with every man that breathes in their direction.
2. The cultural stereotyping:
In the novel, there is a very intelligent, well-educated, classy scientist from India who plays a big role in the discovery of the Message and building of the Machine. However, no matter how smart she was, no matter how many discoveries she made, Sagan felt the need to CONSTANTLY remind us about her ethnicity. He even went so far as to mention that Ellie Arroway got a waft of curry when Devi walked by. Seriously? Just because she's from India does not mean that she has to smell like curry: it's a blatant stereotype that added nothing to the novel.
3. The endless discussions about religion and God and faith
I wanted to read this novel because I'm a big fan of sci-fi and space (and the movie was excellent). What I ended up reading was page after page after page of monotonous discussions about faith and its place in the Message. Sagan's writing was so wishy-washy that eventually religion and the Message seemed to blend into one another. On some pages, it appeared that he was condoning religion, while in other parts he seemed to be condoning science. At some point, I'm pretty sure that he used the Bible as a comparison to the Message--what?! I came here for some cold hard science, and what I got was this jumble of spirituality and physics.
4. Sagan's general floundering around
This novel could have been really well done if Sagan had kept to one main idea about the Message and its place in society. Instead of doing this, he constantly added different themes ranging from religion to race to gender to wealth. It ended up being this horrible hodgepodge of deep thoughts and drawn out explanations. As a reader, I was confused and bored for most of the novel. Sagan failed to communicate anything of the smallest significance to me, and it was disappointing because I was so looking forward to reading this book.
5. The characters were flatter than Flat Stanley and had less depth than the kiddie pool
Sagan wrote his characters for the book, instead of writing the book for the characters. What can I say? I don't blame the man; he's clearly not a fiction writer, and at least he tried. But after about 100 pages of "Ken der Heer said something incorrect, let me explain why he's wrong for six pages and then bring it up way later in the book and expect you to remember," I got frustrated. Very frustrated. The characters would say something obtuse, which Sagan would then use as a segway into six pages about some inane and obscure topic. Yes, I understand he's not a fiction writer. Yes, I understand that some of his non-fiction stuff was good. But seriously Carl, be better .
In conclusion:
Contact is an attractive novel with a promising back cover blurb, but it sorely lacks focus and conciseness. The blatant sexism and cultural stereotyping made me nauseous, and the characters had less depth than a kiddie pool.
First of all, I had some major issues with the novel.
1. The BLATANT sexism:
Sagan writes that Ellie Arroway was "distressed" when she didn't get more than a goodnight kiss from a fellow scientist, whose "sexual escapades were legendary among his colleagues." This is just a classic example of the problems that arise when a man writes from a woman's perspective. I really don't think that Sagan understands that females are not "DISTRESSED" when they're not sexually involved with every man that breathes in their direction.
2. The cultural stereotyping:
In the novel, there is a very intelligent, well-educated, classy scientist from India who plays a big role in the discovery of the Message and building of the Machine. However, no matter how smart she was, no matter how many discoveries she made, Sagan felt the need to CONSTANTLY remind us about her ethnicity. He even went so far as to mention that Ellie Arroway got a waft of curry when Devi walked by. Seriously? Just because she's from India does not mean that she has to smell like curry: it's a blatant stereotype that added nothing to the novel.
3. The endless discussions about religion and God and faith
I wanted to read this novel because I'm a big fan of sci-fi and space (and the movie was excellent). What I ended up reading was page after page after page of monotonous discussions about faith and its place in the Message. Sagan's writing was so wishy-washy that eventually religion and the Message seemed to blend into one another. On some pages, it appeared that he was condoning religion, while in other parts he seemed to be condoning science. At some point, I'm pretty sure that he used the Bible as a comparison to the Message--what?! I came here for some cold hard science, and what I got was this jumble of spirituality and physics.
4. Sagan's general floundering around
This novel could have been really well done if Sagan had kept to one main idea about the Message and its place in society. Instead of doing this, he constantly added different themes ranging from religion to race to gender to wealth. It ended up being this horrible hodgepodge of deep thoughts and drawn out explanations. As a reader, I was confused and bored for most of the novel. Sagan failed to communicate anything of the smallest significance to me, and it was disappointing because I was so looking forward to reading this book.
5. The characters were flatter than Flat Stanley and had less depth than the kiddie pool
Sagan wrote his characters for the book, instead of writing the book for the characters. What can I say? I don't blame the man; he's clearly not a fiction writer, and at least he tried. But after about 100 pages of "Ken der Heer said something incorrect, let me explain why he's wrong for six pages and then bring it up way later in the book and expect you to remember," I got frustrated. Very frustrated. The characters would say something obtuse, which Sagan would then use as a segway into six pages about some inane and obscure topic. Yes, I understand he's not a fiction writer. Yes, I understand that some of his non-fiction stuff was good. But seriously Carl, be better .
In conclusion:
Contact is an attractive novel with a promising back cover blurb, but it sorely lacks focus and conciseness. The blatant sexism and cultural stereotyping made me nauseous, and the characters had less depth than a kiddie pool.