[quotes] _Contact_, Carl Sagan

[wispfox]

'"Let's see if I've got this straight," he returned. It was a phrase of hers that he had adopted. "It's a lazy Saturday afternoon, and there's this couple lying naked in bed reading the Encyclopedia Britannica to each other, and arguing about whether the Andromeda Galaxy is more 'numinous' than the Resurrection. Do they know how to have a good time, or don't they?"'

"Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars." -Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1857)

'"Ever been in love?" The question was direct, matter-of-fact.
"Halfway, half a dozen times. But" - she glanced at the nearest telecope - "there was always so much noise, the signal was hard to find. And you?"
"Never," he replied flatly. There was a pause, and then he added with a faint smile, "But I have faith."'

I was right, I love this book. Even more than I love the movie (and I love the movie! It was the first movie I ever owned), I love this book.

And I'm amused that my first reaction to the picture at the end of the book was 'huh! He's cute!', followed by an attempt to figure out what sparked that reaction. He radiates joy. Radiating joy gets my attention quite strongly.

Joy and much adoration of this book. But now, I must sleep.

Comments

[beowabbit]

I really loved the book, too. And I totally get what you say about Sagan radiating joy. Did you see any episodes of Cosmos (his PBS miniseries)? Have you read any of his nonfiction? I went on a Sagan binge a few years ago. Here are a few of my favourite quotes:

‘With a few exceptions, secrecy is deeply incompatible with democracy and with science.’ ——Carl Sagan

‘We imagine her [a female hamster examining male hamsters in harnesses in an experiment], steely-eyed, slowly looking the males over head to tail in their kinky leather outfits.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

‘The testicles of a sparrow are about a millimeter long and weigh about a milligram. (That’s one of the reasons you never hear that someone’s hung like a sparrow.)’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

‘In many species, this [estrus and heat] doesn’t happen often and doesn’t last long; cows, for example, are interested in sex for about six hours every three weeks. Cows don’t date much.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

‘Some human cultures have sex in private and eat in public, some do it the other way around; some live with their aged relatives, some abandon them, and some eat them; some institute rigid rules that even toddlers must obey, and some let children do almost anything they want; some bury their dead, some burn their dead, and some set them out for the birds to eat; some use cowrie shells for money, some use metal, some paper, and some do without money altogether; some have no gods, some have one god, some have many gods.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

‘Females in estrus are especially attractive in the early morning, probably because of the long and stressful celibacy imposed on the males by the necessity of having to sleep at night.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors [If I’m remembering correctly, this was about chimpanzees.]

[beowabbit]

Mildly amusing that five of the six quotes I picked out (from the 39 Sagan quotes I’ve recorded) are about sex. :-) I didn’t notice that until I read them over now.

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

I did! :-D

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Did you see any episodes of Cosmos (his PBS miniseries)? Have you read any of his nonfiction?

No, and no. Suggestions?

Or was the above a suggestion in and of itself?

[beowabbit]

Sorry I didn't reply to this in a timely fashion. If I had to recommend only one Sagan book, it would be The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are and The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence are also good. Basically, you can't go wrong reading Sagan.

Be warned, though, that Sagan does not believe in magic, and people who do might find parts of The Demon-Haunted World annoying. I suspect intelligent people who enjoy intellectual discussions won't, but not believing in magic myself I am not an expert in how people who believe in magic will react to Sagan. :-) (For purposes of this paragraph, you can also read "religion" for "magic".)