Archive · 18 Sep 2025
Ian McEwan's 'What We Can Know' - A Novel Overview
Imagine a story set far into the future, in England that's now a bunch of islands after big floods.
A professor named Tom studies old writings, especially a poem that everyone remembers but can't find.
This story is filled with mysteries like this poem, a nuclear disaster, and how society has changed.
The book is like a mix of science fiction, mysteries, and deep thinking about our world.
It makes you think about what happens to us and our memories.
The novel is written by Ian McEwan.
The story is set in England in the year 2119, altered by climate change and a Russian nuclear attack.
The narrator, Tom Metcalfe, is a professor studying early 21st-century literature.
The plot includes a search for a lost poem by Francis Blundy.
Critics describe it as an entertaining and ambitious novel.
- Who
- The novel is by Ian McEwan.
- What
- It is a novel set in a futuristic England.
- When
- The story unfolds in the year 2119, with flashbacks to the early 21st century.
- Where
- The primary setting is England, transformed into an archipelago.
- Why
- The novel explores themes of memory, societal impact, and personal responsibility.
- Author
- Ian McEwan
- Novel Title
- What We Can Know
- Setting
- Futuristic England (2119)
- Setting Details
- England is an archipelago after flooding and Russian nuclear attack
- Protagonist
- Tom Metcalfe, English professor
- Focus
- Poetry, memory, and societal change