What We Can Know

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What We Can Know
What We Can Know.jpg
Author Ian McEwan
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Jonathan Cape (UK)
Publication date
2025
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages400
ISBN 9781787335738

What We Can Know is the 18th novel by author Ian McEwan, published in 2025 by Jonathan Cape. [1] The novel is set almost a century in the future, in 2119, in a UK partially submerged by rising seas, [2] and is centred on Tom Metcalfe, an academic at the fictional University of the South Downs, who is investigating a lost poem, read aloud at a party in 2014. [3]

McEwan has described the book as a work of science fiction "without the science." [4] In the book, people in 2119 call the first half of the 21st century "the Derangement" because everyone knew about climate change but failed to act. [5]

Reception

In an anonymous review appearing pre-publication in Kirkus Reviews , the book was classified as dystopian fiction and described as a "philosophically charged tour de force". [6] Kevin Power of the Guardian saw the book as a commentary on the liberalist movement in the post-Brexit world, noting that McEwan dons the hat of a "liberal critic of liberalism" and "compels us to consider the moral consequences of global catastrophe." [7]

Writing for The New York Times, Dwight Garner called the book "the best thing McEwan has written in ages" and "entertainment of a high order". [8] Garner praised the many themes explored by McEwan, including the meaning of history and legacy.

References

  1. ↑ McEwan, Ian (18 September 2025). "What We Can Know" . Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Creamer, Ella (7 February 2025). "Ian McEwan novel What We Can Know to be published this year". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  3. ↑ "Ian McEwan's next novel, 'What We Can Know,' is science fiction 'without the science'". ABC News. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "Ian McEwan's next novel, 'What We Can Know,' is science fiction 'without the science'". The Independent. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  5. ↑ Lyall, Sarah (25 September 2025). "Ian McEwan Knows History Is an Imperfect Judge". The New York Times . Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  6. ↑ "What we can know". kirkusreview.com. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "What We Can Know by Ian McEwan review – the limits of liberalism". The Guardian. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  8. ↑ Garner, Dwight (22 September 2025). "Ian McEwan's Latest Is the Best Novel He's Written in Ages". The New York Times . Retrieved 22 September 2025.
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