When the movie adaptation for Contact came out, there was no doubt I'd be there. Jodie Foster had a string of amazing roles to her credit at that point, and I was a science fiction junkie. What could be better than a movie positing the reality of extraterrestrial life from one of the preeminent scientists of the last century, Carl Sagan? and I was not disappointed.
Finally, years later, I am reading the novel upon which that movie was based. And it's great. Sagan's prose, though not on a par with wordsmiths like Chabon or Bradbury, flows wonderfully and he manages to infuse the hard science in such a way that you don't feel lost. Dr. Arroway (the Jodie Foster character) is a fittingly strong female character and the realities of such an e.t. contact are offered up by Sagan, thwarting the xenophobic nature of many that have probably read it. And Sagan includes a throwaway line about a reality TV channel/group that probably seemed confusing when first published in 1985 but resonates so much more today.
I'm not really sure if the ramblings above make any sense - I could feel my brain jumping around - but if you get nothing else from this post, Contact by Carl Sagan is an enjoyable read (at least to the point I am currently at).
chris
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