Author: David Tabor

First I should say that this book published in 2025 broke my resolution to not read anything published after 2023 to avoid AI generated content. A quick look around Google seems to say that none was used in this book so I will go on. Soon after starting the novel one will find “the Derangement” time referred to. This is the time when humanity disregarded climate change completely in deranged thinking thus causing the climate disaster and war that resulted in the world of 2119 when the novel takes place. So we live in the Derangement times of this novel and the setting can be seen as a warning of what we may face but it is a good story well done in any case.

I enjoyed following Thomas Metcalfe’s hopeful career crowning journey to find the long lost poem by master poet Francis Blundy titled, “A Corona for Vivian” which was read aloud at a party in 2014 and then never seen again. This premise at first struck me as unusual enough to have a look and luckily the story soon had me happily reading along. The book is filled with literary quotes and references which I suppose could make a fine education to pursue. In fact Mr. McEwan has a refined skill at writing his very own quotable phrases throughout the book that I admire which may make this the rare novel I will reread just to note them along with a little self education in looking up some of those references.

The telling of the real story of the poem and what happened to it from Vivian’s confessional point of view in part two was a little long for me personally but served its purpose to set the record straight and reinforce why the novel is titled “What We Can Know.” I look forward to reading another book by Ian McEwan soon. This was my first of his.

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