fletchie's review against another edition
4.0
As usual, no spoilers.
Carl Sagan's only novel is an enthralling read, though has clear marks of a first-time author.
I will summarise my opinions concisely:
- The language used is sophisticated but not overly flowery.
- Sagan was a prolific scientist, and there has been a great deal of research done for scientific accuracy in the book.
- The plot, while plodding and often tangential, is engaging.
- The characters are extraordinarily human, almost everyone has redeeming qualities, offset by their own personal faults. This makes it very easy to sympathise with many of them, especially the protagonist.
- The examination of religion and faith in comparison to the moderate atheism (I would describe myself as a moderate atheist) demonstrated by the protagonist is fair and well thought out.
- The examination of personal belief and morality, delving into love and loss and all the hardships that accompany those things, are utterly unexpected, and the most beautifully written parts of the book (my favourite aspect of the novel).
I may not read it again, at least for a very long time, but of the millions of books out there that you don't have time to read throughout your life, this one is worth reading at least once.
Carl Sagan's only novel is an enthralling read, though has clear marks of a first-time author.
I will summarise my opinions concisely:
- The language used is sophisticated but not overly flowery.
- Sagan was a prolific scientist, and there has been a great deal of research done for scientific accuracy in the book.
- The plot, while plodding and often tangential, is engaging.
- The characters are extraordinarily human, almost everyone has redeeming qualities, offset by their own personal faults. This makes it very easy to sympathise with many of them, especially the protagonist.
- The examination of religion and faith in comparison to the moderate atheism (I would describe myself as a moderate atheist) demonstrated by the protagonist is fair and well thought out.
- The examination of personal belief and morality, delving into love and loss and all the hardships that accompany those things, are utterly unexpected, and the most beautifully written parts of the book (my favourite aspect of the novel).
I may not read it again, at least for a very long time, but of the millions of books out there that you don't have time to read throughout your life, this one is worth reading at least once.
staticskyy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
jstamper2022's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book, but the writing was so dry and dull.
scylla87's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nickfourtimes's review against another edition
4.0
1) ''She next came upon one of the premier computer channels, dedicated to fantasy role-playing games and now fallen on hard times. Accessed to your home computer, it offered a single entry into a new adventure, today's apparently called Galactic Gilgamesh, in hopes that you would find it sufficiently attractive to order the corresponding floppy disk on one of the vending channels. Proper electronic precautions were taken so you could not record the program during your single play. Most of these video games, she thought, were desperately flawed attempts to prepare adolescents for an unknown future.''
2) ''At a few hundred kilometers altitude, the Earth fills half your sky, and the band of blue that stretches from Mindanao to Bombay, which your eye encompasses in a single glance, can break your heart with its beauty. Home, you think. Home. This is my world. This is where I come from. Everyone I know, everyone I ever heard of, grew up down there, under that relentless and exquisite blue.''
3) ''For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.''
2) ''At a few hundred kilometers altitude, the Earth fills half your sky, and the band of blue that stretches from Mindanao to Bombay, which your eye encompasses in a single glance, can break your heart with its beauty. Home, you think. Home. This is my world. This is where I come from. Everyone I know, everyone I ever heard of, grew up down there, under that relentless and exquisite blue.''
3) ''For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.''
tungstenmouse's review against another edition
I have no motivation to pick it back up.
swansonhc's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
I was interested and the science behind it all was informative, and there were some really good musings on humanity, but the book took a bit of a religious turn which I didn’t love
tvil's review against another edition
4.0
This is a slow-burning and contemplative story about humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. Sagan touches upon the intertwinement of philosophy, religion, science and politics as he considers the ramifications of such an historic event. It is a book about the big questions in life and the small questions. About God and family, about aliens and ants. It’s very profound.
The first part of the book depicts Ellie’s early life, as she discovers the world and universe around her. It struck a chord with me, being a recent father. Carl Sagan had just gotten a daughter, Sasha, in 1983, two years before the publication of the novel. It seems likely that he based some of Ellie on her; while Sasha was just a toddler at the time, and not even conceived when Sagan first wrote Contact as a screenplay, I assume he gave a lot of thought to how she would grow up in a man’s world (especially if she would follow in his scientific footsteps), and based the final version of Ellie partly on his vision of how she might grow up. (Coincidentally, Ellie’s father and role model dies when she is in seventh grade, and Carl Sagan himself passed away in 1996, in Sasha’s 13th year.)
Laurel Lefkow did a great job as audiobook narrator. Her voices and accents were pretty on point, although I didn’t much care for her lisping character(s?), and her Ethiopian and Indian accents were pretty similar.
I have actually never watched the movie. I will immediately do so. The story reminded me a fair bit of [b:Interstellar|21488063|Interstellar|Greg Keyes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414352072s/21488063.jpg|40814565] (one of my all-time favorite movies), which is of course fitting since both star Matthew McConaughey, and [a:Kip S. Thorne|1404|Kip S. Thorne|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1217934336p2/1404.jpg] acted as science advisor on both.
The first part of the book depicts Ellie’s early life, as she discovers the world and universe around her. It struck a chord with me, being a recent father. Carl Sagan had just gotten a daughter, Sasha, in 1983, two years before the publication of the novel. It seems likely that he based some of Ellie on her; while Sasha was just a toddler at the time, and not even conceived when Sagan first wrote Contact as a screenplay, I assume he gave a lot of thought to how she would grow up in a man’s world (especially if she would follow in his scientific footsteps), and based the final version of Ellie partly on his vision of how she might grow up. (Coincidentally, Ellie’s father and role model dies when she is in seventh grade, and Carl Sagan himself passed away in 1996, in Sasha’s 13th year.)
Laurel Lefkow did a great job as audiobook narrator. Her voices and accents were pretty on point, although I didn’t much care for her lisping character(s?), and her Ethiopian and Indian accents were pretty similar.
I have actually never watched the movie. I will immediately do so. The story reminded me a fair bit of [b:Interstellar|21488063|Interstellar|Greg Keyes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414352072s/21488063.jpg|40814565] (one of my all-time favorite movies), which is of course fitting since both star Matthew McConaughey, and [a:Kip S. Thorne|1404|Kip S. Thorne|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1217934336p2/1404.jpg] acted as science advisor on both.
shawnwhy's review against another edition
5.0
wow, scientist used to have such optimistic dreams back in the days..... beautiful dreams about benevolent aliens.