What We Can Know by Ian McEwan: memory and preservation

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan: memory and preservation

From The Novel Tea by Neha & Shruti

February 25, 2026 · 1h 7m · Season 7 · Episode 3

About this episode

Neha and Shruti discuss Ian McEwan's novel 'What We Can Know', exploring themes of memory and preservation.

In this episode, Shruti and Neha discuss What We Can Know , Ian McEwan's latest speculative novel about a lost poem, climate change, and the power of stories. We discuss this novel through the themes of memory and preservation, and talk about our differing opinions on some of the major twists in the novel. Shelf Discovery & Books Mentioned: Possession by A.S. Byatt Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Universality by Natasha Brown If you would like to get additional recommendations, analyses, and behind-the-scenes content related to this and all of our episodes, subscribe to our free email newsletter on Substack. We love to hear from listeners about the books we discuss - you can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing us at thenovelteapod@gmail.com. This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Neha, Shruti

Topics covered

  • memory
  • preservation
  • climate change
  • speculative fiction
  • storytelling
  • literary analysis

Keywords

  • Ian McEwan
  • What We Can Know
  • memory
  • preservation
  • climate change
  • literature
  • book discussion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bookshop.org

Books & works: What We Can Know, Possession, Station Eleven, To the Lighthouse, Universality

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