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Contact Mass Market Paperback – July 1, 1997

by
Carl Sagan (Author)
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Carl Sagan (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 468 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books (July 1, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099469502
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099469506
  • ASIN: 0671004107
  • Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (468 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSagan does it agan.
By Atheen on May 9, 2000
Format: 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.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis Book Touched Me
By A. Ferguson on April 18, 2006
Format: 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). Also Ellie does not have a physically intimate relationship with Joss, although she does with more than one other character in the book.

2) Ellie's mom and stepdad have key roles, while her deceased dad does not appear as often.

3) Ellie is not the only person who meets the Caretakers (aliens).Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA flawless reading of an excellent book
By Larry Bridges on December 21, 2000
Format: 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.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsIncredible
By Michelle on February 9, 2000
Format: Mass Market Paperback
I read this book shortly after I saw the movie, just after completing my sophomore year in high school. The book went much more in depth than the movie; something that usually makes books better than the movies that are based on them; which is true in this case.
If you can understand the complex math and science that is interwoven into the chapters (I didn't, but I read it anyway :) you'll probably enjoy it that much more. Otherwise I would have rated it five stars. A must for for the obsessive sci-fi reader (such as myself :).
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3.0 out of 5 starsI really wanted to like this book but it's just drags
By Rachael Kelley on April 30, 2016
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
I'm only about half way through. I really wanted to like this book but it's just drags. It's full of in depth dry details that don't advance the story line. I'm at a part right now where it takes an entire 1.5 pages to describe someone flipping through channels on a tv... Describing each channel in mind numbing detail. I'm finding it really hard to keep my attention and really, I have fallen asleep the last 3 times I've tried to read it. Carl Sagan was a profound cosmologist but maybe not my favorite science fiction author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSagan Was the Best

Carl Sagan was the best and this book is extremely interesting in many ways. The technical explanations are clear and very easy to understand. Read more

Published 19 days ago by Putter Maker Bo
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Best book ever!

Published 1 month ago by Tom
5.0 out of 5 starsMakes me want to go watch the movie again.

A very good read. Lots of technical detail, but not so much as to get bogged down. The ending is better than the movie (which admittedly, is still very good).

Published 3 months ago by krikiter
5.0 out of 5 starsCarl Sagan at his Best.

One of the best books I ever read. Carl Sagan really hit the mark in his only true novel. Much better than the movie, and I love the move too.

Published 3 months ago by HoHoKus
2.0 out of 5 starsInteresting fantasy....the years since publication negate Sagan's...

I first read this book when it was published in the mid 80s. It has not aged well. I don't know what Sagan's religion was or do I care. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Just a guy in Oregon
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Classic sci-fi/reality by a prolific and great mind.

Published 4 months ago by Polly
5.0 out of 5 starsMy favorite. MUST BUY!

This book is next level. I wish there were more like it. There can be a patch or two of slowness, but it really is one of the best. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Maxwell C
5.0 out of 5 stars... imaginative read that will leave wanting a journey just like it.

An amazingly imaginative read that will leave wanting a journey just like it.

Published 5 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsa must read for any sci fi fan, or amateur comologist

This is a rare case where the movie is a as good as the book. They can be very different in key areas, like most good book/movie comparisons. Read more

Published 6 months ago by chad b halverson
3.0 out of 5 starsNot what I expected

I started reading this book because I wanted to spend some time traveling through wormholes (well, at least learning about them). There was actually little physics. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Yoshimi

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