Reviews

Contact, by Carl Sagan

tarun101's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

clevelon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

idlewilder's review against another edition

5.0

This is a sublimely beautiful story, fascinating science fiction, and a work of profound thought. Just reading it will make you a better person. It's a shame Carl Sagan only wrote one novel, but he wrote a perfect one.

fanniebee's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

5.0

kbhenrickson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

interpretagain's review against another edition

4.0

I would have liked to give this book three stars but the ending saved it. The principle behind the story is very good--an alien civilisation sends layered messages inside radio waves. The layers can be understood the smarter or further along you are. A clever metaphor. The matter of fact writing might please some, but I found it only exposed that sagan didn't have the ability with language that would have made the book captivating. At points it was rambling, at others large words were crammed into sentences that became unwieldy. The story overall took too long to develop, and some of the dialogue just seemed like poorly disguised anti religion tirades. The irony of the ending and the meaning each person could take from it forced me to give the book an overall good rating. I don't regret reading it.

foxtrot7's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

saramae's review against another edition

unnecessarily long

unsecuredstation's review against another edition

4.0

You know when the sci-fi thingy (novel or movie) you’re reading doesn’t quite comply with real physics, theoretical physics, and astrophysics principles?
This doesn’t happen when the sci-fi novel is written by an astrophysicist! A great one at that: Carl Sagan.

ismynamegeoff's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5