A review by tvil
Contact, by Carl Sagan
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.