Contact [Mass Market Paperback]

Carl Sagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997

In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who -- or what -- is out there?

In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future -- and our own.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects Contact, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion, and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes Contact a modern sci-fi classic. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Who could be better qualified than the author of the highly successful Cosmos to turn the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, and humankind's first contact with it, into imaginative reality? This is precisely what Sagan does in this eagerly awaited and, as it turns out, engrossing first novel. The basic plot is very simple. A worldwide system of radio telescopes, in the charge of brilliant astrophysicist Ellie Arroway, picks up a "Message" from outer space. Ellie is instrumental in decoding the message and building the "Machine" for which it gives instructions (despite stiff opposition from religious fundamentalists and those scientists and politicians who fear it may be a Trojan Horse). Then she and fellow members of a small multinational team board the machine, take a startling trip into outer spaceand on their return must convince the scientific community that they are not the perpetrators of a hoax. Sagan's characters, mostly scientists, are credible without being memorable, and he supplies a love interest that is less than compelling. However, his informed and dramatically enacted speculations into the mysteries of the universe, taken to the point where science and religion touch, make his story an exciting intellectual adventure and science fiction of a high order. First serial to Discover Magazine; BOMC selection. Foreign rights: S & S. October 1
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671004107
• ISBN-13: 978-0671004101
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (331 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Movie Tie-Ins
  • #90 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > General

More About the Author

Carl Sagan was Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft expeditions to the planets, for which he received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement. Dr. Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize and the highest awards of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, and many other awards, for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment. His book Cosmos (accompanying his Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning television series of the same name) was the bestselling science book ever published in the English language, and his bestselling novel, Contact, was turned into a major motion picture.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sagan does it agan., May 9, 2000

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contact (Mass Market Paperback)

Like most of his work, Sagan puts across the sciences and professions of astronomy and astrophysics across for the lay reader with great ability and an obvious feeling for his subject and his readers. I enjoyed the humanness of his characters, the realities of their work world, and the science in which they were involved. I read the book before watching the video and felt, as I usually do, that the book was better. One can always create more side plots and develop to a greater extent the individual characters in a volume of so many pages, which the reader can set aside at will and return to as needed. The director must stick to a central theme and be constantly mindful of budgetary constraints. I also thought the relationship of the heroine with her father was more intense and surprising in the book than in the movie.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A flawless reading of an excellent book, December 21, 2000

By 

Larry Bridges "thebachelor" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Contact (Movie Tie-in) Cassette (Audio Cassette)

The only science fiction novel by a prominent astronomer who was the late twentieth century's foremost popularizer of science was bound to be something special, and Carl Sagan's "Contact" certainly is. No other science fiction novel is quite like it in its thrilling realism; one can easily believe that a sequence of events similar to that in the book could begin taking place tomorrow. The book is filled with a plethora of wonderful plot twists, fascinating details of scientific fact and speculation, and unexpected bits of characterization that only Sagan could have thought to include. Sagan, who apparently considered himself a "spiritual agnostic," explored religious as well as scientific issues in this work, and the result is arguably heretical if seen from a traditional religious standpoint -- but not heretical in the specific way a reader might initially expect. Indeed, the story's climactic twist makes "Contact" into a twentieth-century equivalent of "Paradise Lost" -- a work which, while subtly heretical, is one of the most awe-inspiringly religious books ever written.

Jodie Foster's reading of "Contact" on this recording is absolutely superb. She differentiates between the voices of all the characters and her own voice as narrator -- even her voice for Ellie Arroway, the character she played in the movie of "Contact," is a subtly more energetic and characterful version of her normal voice. Foster also employs about seven different accents (counting her usual American accent) in the course of the recording, moving effortlessly from one to another when characters from several different countries have conversations. At one point, when Sagan's text describes a character as having an almost (but not quite) non-existent Russian accent, Foster even manages to produce exactly that! She also evokes all the varying moods of the story, conveying Sagan's sense of awe and wonder at the beauty and majesty of the universe. Foster's performance on this recording is probably the best reading of a book which I have ever heard.

I listened to this recording over several nights, and was in suspense from one night to the next, wondering what would happen next. This superb example of the intelligence and artistry of Carl Sagan and Jodie Foster is highly recommended. Six out of five stars.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Touched Me, April 18, 2006

By 

A. Ferguson (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contact (Mass Market Paperback)

Contact is grand, it is epic, and it is vast in it's hypotheses and plotline. However, it is also one of the most touching and personable books you will ever read.

I agree with others who have said that the twists and turns in the plot are fantastic. No doubt. But my favorite thing about this book is Ellie's character - her tenacity, her passion, and her undaunted *faith* while yet an athiest and a scientist. Sagan develops an array of interesting characters, with different backgrounds and belief systems, who respond to the first-contact experience in unique ways. As much as Contact is a story about first-contact with aliens, it is as much or even moreso a pondering about humanity, our strengths and weaknesses, and the delicate differences through which we strive to find common ground.

You should know that there are a few significant differences between the book and the movie (I did like the movie very much by the way, and felt Jodie Foster did a superb job as Ellie). The following are "minor spoilers". In other words, they are subtle hints at what you may have missed if you only saw the movie, but, I have not outright told you what is in the book either:

1) Palmer Joss's character looks quite different in the book, and has a different background, than the hot-bodied heart-throb portrayed in the movie by McConaughey (McConaughey did well with the part written for him, in my opinion).

2) Ellie and her dad's relationship is much more personal than the short snibets depicted in the movie.

3) Ellie is not the only person who meets the Caretakers (aliens) in the book version.

4) During the first contact with the alien ("her dad"), the conversation is much longer and more detailed. The alien shares paragraphs of information about the outside universe, what they have discovered, an intriguing discussion on pi and the secrets this number holds, and what they feel the future holds for other worlds in the galaxy. This was a significant difference from the movie, though I can see why Zemeckis needed to shorten some of it due to its extensiveness.

5) The book has a fantastic twist at the end which the movie did not include. It revolves around something Ellie learned about pi during her conversation with the alien. I was surprised the movie did not include it, as it was such a creative and masterful conclusion.

There are other differences but these were the most significant ones for me.

If you are on the lookout for books with a similar theme/feel, try Jack McDevitt's "The Engines of God" and "The Hercules Text", especially the latter.

And on a side note - Hey Nick, How about a SEQUEL?