Ian McEwan seems to be in the anglosaxon world a well-received author of fiction - and his newest novel is "Solar". I came across this novel because I was invited by nature (!) to review it - it deals with climate change. Certainly a uncommon request, but a welcome one for me. If you want to read my assessment, access the 29 April issue of nature.
The main issue in this narrative is climate change. The story is about a nobel-price winning scientist and how he employs the opportunity "climate change" for his own purposes. This book is not a wake-up call for the public to take climate change seriously; it neither serves the purpose of sceptics who consider climate change a hoax. Indeed, it is not really a book about climate change. Instead, it is an attempt to show scientists as social actors beyond idealistic stereotypes. It is not a book to educate about the perils of climate change, but a book about climate change as a social construct in the real world.
Watch out for a polar bear rug.
Unfortunately only in German, here a nice background report about Schellnhuber as McEwan's advisor (without knowing it).
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Including a great picture of Schellnhuber and Prince Charles (attention, hardcore!).
to counter worries ("If the place isnt hotting up, we are fucked") about his path-breaking solar business, the main character calms down his sceptical friend in business: "Here is the good news. The UN estimates that already a third of a million people a year are dying from climate change...It's a catastrophe, relax!" (216-217)
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