it is a more complete story then the movie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(novel)
think about it.
I read Contact and saw the movie and enjoyed both. Yes, they’re different alright.
I enjoyed the novel. I found the story intriguing, but that was, in spite of Sagan’s writing style, which I found flat.
Great story, great movie. I love this idea. I can’t say when at this point, but a Cosmos arc is definitely in the cards at some point in the future, too.
Do you mean for book club or a podcast?
Either way, I’m psyched. Loved the book, and the movie was pretty neat too.
Loved the book, loved the movie, loved Carl Sagan.
Tried to get the kids to watch COMOS with me last month, older one thumds up, younger one thumbs down.
I enjoyed the movie but I loved the book. A great example of getting a far richer story on the printed page. I confess to being a wee bit of a quantum physics geek 
Even so I loved how Mr. Sagan was able to make the concepts used in the book easy to understand without talking down to the audience. I would love a reread if I weren’t already swamped by my reading list. I could do a reviewing of the movie though.
I thought I meant the book club, but I am Ok if I meant a podcast, or both…
a COSMOS arch would be FANTASTIC!!!
I’d definitely be on board for reading it. I’ve heard almost exclusively good things.
I’m a big Jodie Foster fan, but the movie was a little flat I thought in comparison. The book, as is normally the case, fleshes out the story much better. This would make a great selection…
I am pleased to announce that, no doubt due to the recent GWC podcast arc focusing on the awesomeness that is Cosmos, the November-December 2009 GWC book club selection is Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel Contact.
By human standards it could not possibly have been artificial: It was the size of a world. But it was so oddly and intricately shaped, so clearly intended for some complex purpose that it could only have been the expression of an idea. Gliding in polar orbit about the great blue-white star, it resembled some immense, imperfect polyhedron, encrusted with millions of bowl-shaped barnacles. Every bowl was aimed at a particular part of the sky. Every constellation was being attended to. The polyhedral world had been performing its enigmatic function for eons. It was very patient. It could afford to wait forever.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Wow, I actually just grabbed that from my mom’s house and it’s right beside me!
(now to catch up with all the books I’m behind on)
I got a bunch of books from amazon this weekend and started reading 5 or 6 of them as is my habit, and I found Contact the most engaging. Im on page 100 and Im loving it! I like how it goes more in depth about her struggle as both a woman (in a world dominated by male scientists) and as a SETI proponent (in a world where most people think its a flight of fantasy and a complete waste of time).
Wondering to myself why they changed it in the movie so that the dad dies but the mother lives.
Also wished they would have gone with a female president like in the novel. Drumlin also seems more 3 dimensional in the novel, where they give an explanation for his douchey behavior but also emphasize just how much of a genius he is (in the movie they focus more on his self-aggrandizing and political maneuverings). Cant wait for my lunch break for more Contact goodness.
I recently finished Contact on Audible.com! However, awesome as it was, having been narrated by Jodie Foster, it was an abridged version, so I’ve already wrangled a hardcover copy from dad’s library and will be diving right in.
I scored my copy of Contact a while back at Half Price Books – a hardcover for like $7. You can find it pretty easily in most used shops at a great price.
I always wondered about the switch as well. The book’s way 'round (re: Arroway’s parents) seems more solid, but then I guess converting a novel to the screen is a lot like changing the rules of chess or baseball: Everything you change affects something else, and even the smallest changes can unravel the whole game.
I’ve got my library copy, and away we go!
Dug mine out of a box in the garage! wooooo!
found mine on a shelf of "to be read"s!!!
I’m still near the start (the holidays are getting in the way!) but a huge plus for this book - Sagan uses an epigraph from Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz! I love her with a love that is pure and true, particularly her defense of women’s education (and this in the late 17th century, no less). Major points, Mr. Sagan (as if he needed any more :))
I love this! What a great story, and so readable. I’d be much farther along, but the holidays messed with my reading, too.