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    Audiobook14 hours

    Contact

    Written by Carl Sagan

    Narrated by Laurel Lefkow

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cosmos and renowned astronomer Carl Sagan’s international bestseller about the discovery of an advanced civilization in the depths of space remains the “greatest adventure of all time” (Associated Press).

    The future is here…in an adventure of cosmic dimension. When a signal is discovered that seems to come from far beyond our solar system, a multinational team of scientists decides to find the source. What follows is an eye-opening journey out to the stars to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who—or what—is out there? Why are they watching us? And what do they want with us?

    One of the best science fiction novels about communication with extraterrestrial intelligent beings, Contact is a “stunning and satisfying” (Los Angeles Times) classic.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 21, 2012
    ISBN9781442353817
    Author

    Carl Sagan

    Carl Sagan (1934-1996) was the Director of Cornell University’s Laboratory for Planetary Studies. He played a leading role in the American space program and was an adviser to NASA since its inception. He briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions to the planets. He helped solve the mysteries of the high temperatures of Venus (answer: massive greenhouse effect), the seasonal changes on Mars (answer: windblown dust), and the reddish haze of Titan (answer: complex organic molecules). For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and the Pulitzer Prize for The Dragons of Eden. His 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage won the Emmy and Peabody awards. The National Science Foundation declared that his “research transformed planetary science… his gifts to mankind were infinite.”

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    Reviews for Contact

    4/5

    2,607 ratings87 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      One of my favorites, watched the movie and read it a couple of times already

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A great book. So pleased I read this even after watching the movie years ago.

      Actually Carl Sagan was my idol, just about, when growing up and love his references to poetry and the subtle spirituality in the story.

      A true classic.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I have to admit that this was written better than I had anticipated. From a literary perspective, the author did a good job of building characters in a way that sucked me into the story. The plot was interesting and the scientific detail (when I understood it) was enjoyable.

      I don't know why I don't rate this book higher but it might have something to do with the ending. It wasn't terrible but it was anti-climatic.
    • 4/5
      This novel spans a large amount of time and deals with some of the challenges that would inevitably arise as world nations try to work together. I especially found the parallel of religious faith and Ellie's experience with first contact to be thought provoking. In some ways the story felt like a detailed thought experiment.
    • 5/5
      Ok, so to get it out of the way, I'm a Sagan stan.
      Tend to gravitate towards "hard speculative fiction" or at least plots with internal consistency. The human imagination is a remarkable tool, and in some their imagination can be spookily prescient. Contact does not disappoint on wonder and joy. But Sagan seems to be writing a deeper treatise here, and perhaps a warning. I'll be honest, at times the plot twists had me literally yelling, taking events in the book almost personally. I wasn't sure at all how Sagan was going to land this baby, but he absolutely sticks it. Brings it around full...well just read it and see, it's poetic and profound...and displays full internal consistency ?
    • 5/5
      Probably one of the best works of writing I've had the please to read. Very amazing work and got me interested in science. The narration is amazing aswell!
    • 1/5
      Just wow. Start talking about an uninteresting scenario, don't finish, cuts off mid thought, then fast forward years. Meanwhile there's not much in the way of character or any important characters aside from the main character leaving the first 3 chapters a complete waste of time and could have been summed up in a single paragraph. I don't think I'll make it past chapter 4
    • 5/5
      An incredible book presenting the potential of humanity to come together for a common cause, but with the tragic realisation that human psychology and entrenched interests can present profound barriers. This novel presents Sagan's thought in a fascinating way that successfuly demonstrates how a scientific world view can actually sit quite comfortably alongside religion, when religion is understood in fundamental rather than doctrinal form.
    • 5/5
      This is so good! It takes the JF movie to another level. Carl Sagan was an outstanding writer. If you enjoyed the movie you will be captivated by the book. Well done!
    • 4/5
      I read this book about 20 years ago and back then was struggling with the science and the philosophy. I always meant to read it again, as by now I only recall bits and pieces. I remember being disappointed after watching the movie. It's an entertaining movie, but the book is much more in depth and gives plenty of food for thought. Very scientific and technical, from what I do remember.
    • 4/5
      If you like classic sci-fi, like Clarke and Asimov you most probably like this novel.
    • 5/5
      F*cking incredible! This is the best book I have read yet.
    • 5/5
      This book is unbelievable and timeless. Naturally, the movie doesn't even come close.
    • 5/5
      Rich in tapestry. An authentic portrayal of science and human nature.
    • 5/5
      This book is very insightful. I can totally relate to Eleanor Arroway, I mean to her indefatigable curiosity. Sagan also interspersed some spiritual undertones, in the person of Palmer Joss. Weird.
    • 1/5
      Missing pieces of text, poor reading, low quality audiobook...
    • 4/5
      Fun excursion into first contact with an alien species. Sagan makes us think about many issues in this semi-prophetic rendering.
    • 5/5
      Intriguing and well thought out. Must read for any dreamer
    • 4/5
      Special kudos to the narrator. What a poignant and stimulating tale
    • 3/5
      I've read several of Sagan's non-fiction books prior to this novel, and I strangely found him to be much less engaging here. The first half of Contact reads more like non-fiction than a story, but it's lacking the voice that made his non-fiction so good. The second half of the book, though, once the Machine gets built, suddenly has a lot more heart to it than I was expecting. Now that I'm done with it, I'm finding myself appreciating the whole thing a lot more than I thought I was going to in the beginning.The main character, Ellie Arroway, is basically a voice for Sagan. She has his same sense of wonder balanced by a skeptic's strict requirement for evidence. I liked the vision that Sagan had of a world whose international conflicts died down once we learned we weren't alone in the universe.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful classic which is quite progressive having a female protagonist who is a STEM scientist. We’ll founded science and interesting discourse.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic as always. Carl was a genius. Terrific version
    • 3/5
      Book club book. Book is better than the movie especially the ending info.
    • 5/5
      This was just fantastic. Started out kind of slow—typical sci-fi, but really grew into a story I had trouble turning off.
    • 5/5
      Very well read in the audiobook. The idea of it the book is far better than the book itself. Quite insightful. But it lacks writing skills. Maybe Sagan should've brought in a partner, someone who is as well trained in writing as Sagan is in cosmology. .
    • 3/5
      This was extremely long and boring. Hours and hours of nothing then three hours of "something"? at the end.
      The narrator was fantastic, I find some audiobooks on here would be great if they had talented narrators like this one.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful Sci-fi book. A must read for all sci-fi fans.
    • 5/5
      I'm not sure what to say about this novel beyond the fact that I really just loved every second of it. Carl Sagan has a gift for expressing the beauty and wonder of science using the humanities as a point of contact, and the result is almost always amazing. One of those books that you finish and then mope around feeling sorry for yourself because it's over.
    • 3/5
      A good solid science fiction novel. Sagan boldly creates a female lead character and makes her, for the most part, believable. His story flows along well, but the ending is...well, disappointing. It seems possible that, once he got to the end, he simply didn't really know how to end it, so he went in a strange ending, grafting a spiritual ending onto a scientific novel.
    • 5/5
      Great book! I wish Carl Sagan was still alive. Note to watch the old movie again.