Contact

Contact

By Carl Sagan

I first read Contact many years ago, probably not long after it was published in 1985. Having watched the movie (probably too) many times since then, I decided it would be fun to re-read the novel. One reason was that I recall when I first saw the movie, I found the revised ending less satisfying than the novel’s. An additional reason was that, although I remembered my emotional reaction, I had forgotten the actual details of the novel’s ending. This time around, of course, I wasn’t reading the paperback edition of Contact. Much has changed since Sagan’s writing and my initial reading the book, and the invention of e-readers is among the changes—mine is a Kobo.

If you haven’t read the novel or seen the movie (which would make me think you’re not allocating your free time well or are living in a distant part of the world), the plot revolves around Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster in the movie), an astronomer who detects an alien signal transmitted from deep space. The signal proves to be an encoded message that leads to the construction of a mysterious machine and an extraordinary trip to a very distant location.

In reading the novel, I couldn’t help comparing it to the movie. Their plots are roughly similar. However, as seems inevitable when movies are based on books, there were significant differences. One was the amount of time spent in the novel surrounding the politics of decoding the message and building the machine. The novel includes many pages describing the political and social events and reactions that (I thought) realistically could occur if such alien contact were ever made. I can’t fault Sagan for including such details, but it wasn’t my favourite part of the novel and (no doubt because of that) seemed excessive. I much preferred the more abbreviated treatment the movie gave to this aspect of the story.

On the other hand, from the point where the machine was successfully activated through to the eventual end of the stories, I much preferred the novel’s version. I thought the novel’s inclusion of five travellers (versus just Ellie Arroway in the movie), the descriptive detail of the trip, and the discussions that ensued while on the trip were much more satisfying in the novel. Even more so, I much preferred the novel’s ending, which differed completely from the movie’s. The novel’s idea that proof of the journey could be found in the fundamental geometry of the universe was much more imaginative and thought-provoking.

My conclusion: If you’ve seen and enjoyed the movie but have never read the novel and thereby missed out on some great details, if you’ve already read the novel but (like me) enough years have passed that the story’s subtleties have faded, or if you live in a remote part of the universe and have never experienced either the movie or the book, then I have a strong suggestion for you… Take the time to read Contact, by Carl Sagan. I highly recommend it.

- Cal Brown