If this isn’t beyond satire, what is? The morons that printed the 75th Anniversary edition of the dystopian George Orwell novel 1984 actually put a “trigger warming” in the book for Gen X halfwits.
The book, of course, is a warning about the creeping fascism and oppression that can overtake us if we aren’t careful, and one of its warnings includes the idea that government and academia can use language as a weapon to undermine freedom by claiming that ideas are somehow traumatizing and should, therefore, be sanctioned and banned.
The irony of putting a trigger warning on this, of all books, can’t be overstated.
According to The College Fix:
Courtesy of Dolen Perkins-Valdez, who according to her website has “established herself as a pre-eminent chronicler of American historical life” and teaches literature at American University, the intro makes note that “there are no Black characters at all” in the novel.
For a “contemporary reader” such as herself, Perkins-Valdez (pictured) says this gives her “pause.” She also says a “sliver of connection” is difficult with a book that “does not speak much to race and ethnicity.”
On the June 2 edition of the show “America This Week, Live,” host Walter Kirn had co-host Matt Taibbi in stitches pointing out the paradox of such an introduction in a book whose themes include the use of language and freedom of thought…
“So, this version of ‘1984’ has a trigger warning […] here it goes: Dolen Perkins-Valdez [says] ‘I’m enjoying the novel on its own terms, not as a classic but as a good story. That is, until Winston [Smith] reveals himself to be a problematic character.’
“‘For example, we learn of him he dislikes nearly all women. And especially the young and pretty ones. Winston’s views on women are, at first, despicable for the contemporary reader. He is the kind of character that can make me put a book down.’”
In which you will learn that the current leading paperback version of 1984, its official Orwell-estate-approved 75th anniversary edition, includes a 1984-ish trigger-warning introduction calling the novel's hero "problematic" because of his "misogyny."
I am not making this up. https://t.co/U9UAR3dsdQ
— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) June 2, 2025
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