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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “At an array of radio telescopes in New Mexico Dr. Eleanor Arroway discovered a coded message being transmitted from the star Vega. After months of global cooperation and painstaking work she and her colleges decode the message. It was the instructions to construct a machine. This apparatus from...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I've started to read this a very long time ago, I'll have to restart it over again sometime soon.”
Donduckandy wrote this review 4 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Was not a light read, but I liked the way it ended. It is very different from the miovie. It took me a very long time to read, not exactly a page turner.”
Leslie R wrote this review Saturday, November 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It has been a while, but this was a fairly awesome read as I recall.”
Joel Carlson wrote this review Monday, October 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“AMAZING! Carl Sagan has an extraordinary mind. ”
Sean S wrote this review Sunday, October 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Oddly, not as good as the movie. In my humble opinion. I think its just that there were certain aspects of the movie that really resonated with me that the book didn't emphasise as much. The scene where she travels through space just really captures the emotion of awe, and the focus on the fact that there is a lot of faith in science - more than we realise or like to admit. ”
Mandy L wrote this review Thursday, August 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“What a great book! It was very engaging.”
Andrea K wrote this review Wednesday, August 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is one of my favorite sci-fi novels of all-time. Carl Sagan just has a way with words, and he understands science probably better than most sci-fi authors did before him. The book is actually very different than the movie, but the basic plot was there. I enjoyed the movie too, however. What was missing from the film was the mathematics toward the end of novel. Without spoiling too much, there is a sense of providence for the human race toward the end, rather than the somewhat insignificance that the movie ends up portraying. I will just say that this "providence" I speak of may simply be related to the fact that we were born with ten fingers rather than something less. You'll have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about here. I read this several years ago, but it's a very memorable book for me.”
Daniel D wrote this review Wednesday, July 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Fun excursion into first contact with an alien species. Sagan makes us think about many issues in this semi-prophetic rendering.”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review Friday, July 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mary B said: 4 stars
Play Book Tag Shelf wrote this review Wednesday, July 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A message is received from space. The world goes mad trying to figure out who its from, what it means, and whether its benevolent or not. Dr. Arroway is at the forefront of this after she discovers the message, dates the scientific advisor to the president, and publicly joins in the science vs. religion debate. MUCH better than the movie. While the movie touched on SOME of the cultural and religious aspects, it kind of missed the major theme which is context. The politics that were in there were definitely worth reading especially as it includes a lot of Cold War commentary. The message of what humanity is at the end is clearly related to that. My favorite part of the book definitely fed into this. While everyone's discussing the message and the senders' intentions, her Russian friend clarifies that his government doesn't care as long as the aliens denounce Leon Trotsky. Really fast, good read. Should check out some more things by him. I honestly delayed this one for so long because I was afraid he was going to get really technical with the science but I did OK.
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“This is a very rare book by Carl Sagan showing a strong-willed female protagonist but at the same time, perfectly human. Just like the book, I loved the film version because of the story's unpredictability and also because of Jodie Foster.
narj wrote this review Friday, June 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It's cool to imagine that as we stop and watch the stars in a clear night, at that moment, we are only seeing history of the stars and constellations. Light travels at a relatively very high speed but if you consider the much larger distance separating the stars you see and your bare eyes, you are only seeing the history of that star, seeing its light from probably a moment ago, or perhaps, days ago...
This book is not trying to reconcile Religion and Science, but also it doesn't antagonize the two. The book tells us to seek the answers in our own way(be it skeptical, empirical, devotional, or maybe spiritual) and also to respect a different opinion from ourselves.
The point is to never stop searching for answers to our questions.”
