'Trigger warning' preface added to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Controversy surrounds the 75th anniversary edition of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, published by Berkley Books, due to a trigger warning in a new preface.

The preface, written by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, a US novelist , labels the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, as “problematic” for his misogynistic views, particularly his dislike of “nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones,” which she finds “despicable.” Perkins-Valdez, also notes the novel’s lack of racial representation, making it hard for her, as a black woman, to connect with the characters.

Critics, including US writer Walter Kirn, accuse the Orwell estate of ideological policing, arguing the preface undermines the novel’s anti-censorship message. Kirn calls it an “apology” for the novel and questions its necessity alongside an existing foreword by Thomas Pynchon.