Rating: 
Summary: Contact: Hard to understand and yet fun to read
Review: In the year 1999, one astronomer makes a discovery that would shake the very foundations of the world. Eleanor Arroway, a graduate of Harvard and California Technological University and a native of Wisconsin, would make such a discovery. Working in a radio telescope compound known as Argus, she searches the sky constantly, in hopes of receiving a message from a distant civilization. Dedicated to her work, she finally makes progress when one of her telescopes receives an overwhelmingly strong signal from a star named Vega. Looking at the screen of 1's and 0's, she discovers that it is a video clip of Adolf Hitler welcoming the world to the 1936 Olympics! After further studying this awkward transmission, she discovers that there is a message underneath the video clip. Quickly, the rest of the world joins in the effort to collect this message and hopefully decipher it. As the message continues, members of the Soviet Union make the discovery that the message may be a blueprint for the construction of a machine. This novel follows the life of Ellie Arroway during this fictional period of discovery. Playing a vital role in the construction of the Machine, she also becomes the representative of the United States to the alien race that sent them the Message. She always believed that there were other intelligent beings in the universe, and for the first time, she has her proof.
I enjoyed this book. It was full of exciting "what-ifs." Also, Carl Sagan did an excellent job with the character of Ellie, who was both extremely smart and very much human, unlike other genius characters in other stories that seem to be above everyone else. He gave all the characters deep emotions and backgrounds that kept me interested in the book. I would not recommend this book to those who cannot stand reading anything that isn't full of action. Though there are some exciting points in the book, I would not say it was full of action. Also, the language used in the book was highly scientific, and with my "junior in chemistry class" understanding of science, I could barley understand it. I did, however, have some idea of what was going on at all times. In short, I recommend this book for the open minded and the scientific, otherwise, I suggest staying away from it until you figure out what isomers, harmonic oscillators, and erbium dowels are.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book was very enjoyable. It very realisticly explains how contact may someday be made. It touches on politics, science, religion and sexism. I highly recomend this book to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Novel; Failed Political Point
Review: "Contact" is the story of one Dr. Eleanor Arroway, a radio astronomer whose work is responsible for Earth's first contact with an extraterrestrial species. From the start, Dr. Arroway is presented as a curious, confident, rational, independent lady--the ideal scientist. His description of her childhood and adolescence especially is poignant and serves to establish the Dr. Arroway we see throughout the novel.Though Dr. Arroway is the quintessential inquisitor, she is still a human being, subject to human yearnings and human desires--and, primarily, human failings. This plays significantly throughout the book, as the political obstacles she must deal with are often complicated by her romantic and professional involvement with scientists in key influential positions, both in and out of government. Faced with opposition from the Department of Defense, which is worried about what the Soviets; religious evangelists, who are concerned that they might not like the theological implications of contact with an alien species; and envious colleagues, who are worried that they might be publicly embarrassed, Dr. Arroway is forced to make compromises and concessions to reacher her one goal--the construction of the "Machine" described in blueprints transmitted to Earth by the alien civilization. It must be said, though, that the primary purpose of this novel is to build support for government funding of scientific work, especially projects such as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). At this, the novel fails miserably. Dr. Sagan's argument takes for granted that government has any place funding any sort of scientific work in the first place, a tenet that many (myself included) do not accept. Dr. Sagan wrote "Contact" to present a fantastic case for continued funding of SETI. What he produced was a fantastic story--in fact, the best science fiction novel ever written--but did not make his point.
Rating:
Summary: more than a novel
Review: While taking care to keep the fantastical adventure scientifically sound, Sagan seems to have given into his didactic nature. The book is a novel in the sense that it focuses on the central characters' thoughts, feelings, and experiences, but it is also an examination of human culture and philosophy. Fascinating . . . it will provide enlightenment for all future generations.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book and Great Movie!
Review: Sagan had the knack of getting his humanistic point of view out without being offensive to the general populace. He was also a great explainer of scientific ideas in a simple way, to make it easy to understand and interesting. I wish he would have lived longer so he could've written more novels. I think novel writing could have been his best skill. He died too young. Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown Eyed Boy"
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