Good review - good because I happen to agree with it!
I bought Contact many years ago because I watched Cosmos on the telly growing up, and loved it - basically I bought it out of affection for Carl Sagan - and was very impressed with the book, too. The sense of wonder in this book really stood out for me - as in fact it did throughout the Cosmos series. To capture somewhat of the feelings involved in religion while remaining true to science is an achievement indeed. Imagine if he could've done a remake, with modern effects?
The movie was a pretty good adaptation, really.