BOOK REVIEW: What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

What We Can Know is a new novel by Ian McEwan, author of Atonement. In it, he examines the pitfalls of trying to recreate the past by looking at fragments. What is missing may be the most important part.

The premise is clever: a gentler vision of the future we leave to posterity, but a disturbing one nonetheless. In the year 2119, after a nuclear apocalypse and climate catastrophe, England is largely submerged, leaving it an archipelago. People live in small island communities and have to take boats from one island to the other. Infrastructure is limited, but there are remnants, including higher education and libraries up on the higher ground, where scholars can suss out the lessons of the past. Thomas Metcalfe teaches literature from 1990 to 2030 to sullen college students who have no interest in the topic. He co-teaches with historian Rose Church. She is his collaborator, critic, girlfriend, and life partner.

Thomas’ area of study, his research project, is a lost poem from 2014. Composed by famed poet Francis Blundy, the poem “A Corona for Vivien,” was a birthday gift for his wife. He recited it at her birthday dinner party in front of a small number of guests. Because he wanted it to be special, he destroyed all early drafts and made only the one copy. The poem was never published. It disappeared. But the fact that it had once existed was well-documented, and speculation about it was rampant, until interest faded.

Thomas visits the archives and reads all the letters, texts, emails, and journals of Bundy, Vivien, and the guests at the dinner party to construct a story of what happened, in hopes it will lead him to the poem. In the process, McEwan builds a mesmerizing view of a future world, and a complicated look at the time we are living in.

None of the characters are very likeable, but their flaws make them seem very real. Beautifully written. Highly recommended.