A must read for all. Review on Contact - Carl Sagan

I used to be an astronomy buff and a great fan of Carl Sagan. This was when I was still in school. His ideas and the way he presented a subject like astronomy in a fun and easy way was enuff to make me an avid follower. Had read Comet and a couple of other non fiction books authored by him when my school chemistry teacher suggested that I read CONTACT. I was like no I am not much into sci fi but she insisted that this book was more about humans than aliens. She leant me her copy. The book had me spellbound from page one. Being a woman and an ambitious one at that, this book touched a cord within in a deep way indeed, though I was just a high school kid back then.

Moving onto the book, I think Carl Sagan used astronomy as a backdrop to tell us a story about deeper human issues. The title itself ''CONTACT'' has a greater meaning here than just contact with aliens and outerspace. The story is about the journey of a young scientist from childhood to establishing contact with aliens and her own travel to outer space. And as we proceed, we find that her path is littered with problems, challenges that threaten her dream but with grit and determination she manages to accomplish her objectives.It has the ususal masala Religion Vs Science debate, role of the media, government related issues etc.

The protagonist after receiving encoded instructions from outerspace for a machine starts work to build it. This is where the government, other countires etc get involved. This is the machine which will take them to outser space. But what it does instead is that it travels through time and each one meets their beloved who had died so in way it helps each of the astronauts connect to someone they had loved. The heroine herself meets her dad. The scene is very touching and one is moved to tears reading it.

In another light, the author has also tried to point out that in case there is ever a threat from outer space.. will the countries of the world rich and poor be able to come togehter to fight the threat?? It is a poignant question and one that has been addressed in movies like Independence Day etc but where it is treated differently here is that it does not assume that the US will have a final say in that. This issue has been dealt with a lot of finnesse.

The way the book is structured one tends to sympathise and empathise with the heroine but there are times when needs to look at the whole picture and not just her view of it. Then one can possibly understand the importance of the government. One that giveth and taketh also.

The book does not bore you even one bit. Although there is enough scope for the author to lose track, even something as mundane as the journey into outer space is decriebed very beautifully indeed.

But I do find the book's ending a lil cynical. The way her sanity and the effectiveness of the mission is questioned towards the end tempts me to think that this probably reflects Sagan's own conflict with the pwers to be. Maybe I am wishing for some bad aliens, who are beaten up by the heroes as our minds have been so conditioned over the years by the various sci fi films. Maybe I wishing that she feel triumphant at the end of her mission wishing her to succeed in the eyes of others.

Or maybe still an earth shattering change that could have happened after all the enthusiasm of going into outer space. I dont know.

This book definitely gets a thums up from me. It will make u think deeper about ur ambitions, what u want in life and the conflicts that we are likely to face. Even if you dont want to think about all that you can enjoy the book as simply a thriller albeit one in disguise. Cheers!!