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Title: A strong book about ideas.
Review: I think this book is in several ways very similar to the Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, in that there is a very simple plotline inside which conflict of ideas takes place. It is truly a book about ideas. Additionally, Eco and Sagan use in my opinion the same brand of irony in that many of the characters show examples of vast ineptitude at their jobs. Unfortunately, I read the book only after seeing the movie (and I hold the movie as one of the finest ever made,) but I felt that the book did not live up to its vast potential as the basis of that movie. Both Forrest Gump and Contact focused on a central character, but were driven by auxillary characters; I don't feel that Sagan had fleshed out his characters nearly as well as they were delivered in the movie, which is unusual for a book/movie comparison. If you have seen the movie, I would reccommend the book *only if* you seek more depth on the science component of the story.
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