Contact vs Life, the Universe and Everything: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction, Fiction
Contact
“By human standards it could not possibly have been artificial: It was the size of a world.”
In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who -- or what -- is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts…
1 film adaptation
vs
Life, the Universe and Everything
“The regular early morning yell of horror was the sound of Arthur Dent waking up and suddenly remembering where he was.”
Life, the Universe and Everything is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction "trilogy" by British writer Douglas Adams. The title refers to the Answer to Life, the Universe,…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Life, the Universe and Everything is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 8 for Contact.
- Life, the Universe and Everything has the widest readership — 6424 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Contact | Life, the Universe and Everything | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.2 (6424) |
| Hardcover | 4.1 (572) | 4.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (21) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (11) | 4.5 (135) |
Reception
| Contact | Life, the Universe and Everything | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 572 | 6424 |
| Editions | 50 | 65 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 72595 |
| Written reviews | — | 6424 |
| Wikipedia attention | 9565 | 4106 |
| Pages | 432 | 222 |