Homer's The Odyssey Becomes Top US Bestseller as Print Sales Jump 76%

Q: What exactly did translator Emily Wilson criticize about Nolan's blockbuster that ironically sent her book sales skyrocketing?

Emily Wilson’s criticism was that Nolan’s *The Odyssey* was visually grand but dramatically hollow. In her widely discussed review, she said the film lacked “psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth,” called its narrative structure “gimmicky,” said “the writing is abysmal,” and argued that the characters had no convincing motivations. She also faulted Nolan for turning Homer into what she likened to a family-friendly fireworks display: loud, technically impressive, but shallow. Wilson wrote that the movie relied on spectacle — shipwrecks, violence, thunder, burning buildings and explosions — without delivering real feeling or serious engagement with the poem’s ideas. She said the human characters were underdeveloped and that the film’s vision was “too confused” to fulfill its larger themes. In longer interviews and commentary, Wilson also argued that Nolan should have used a stronger script and suggested he “should have hired a writer,” a line that further fueled attention. Ironically, that harsh review became part of the marketing effect. Because Wilson is the translator Nolan himself had cited as an influence — especially her famous opening, “Tell me about a complicated man” — her attack drew huge interest to both the film and her translation, helping send sales of her *Odyssey* soaring.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 3

US demand for The Odyssey has surged since Christopher Nolan’s film release, pushing the nearly 2,700-year-old epic to bestseller status across bookstores, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Circana BookScan data show year-to-date US print sales across all editions up 76%, while Emily Wilson’s translation has stayed in Amazon’s top 10 and passed 1 million domestic copies across formats by early July.
New York Public Library reported a 338% rise in demand between July 2 and July 30, and Brooklyn store Books Are Magic said July sales rose by several thousand percent, including 80 copies of Wilson’s edition.
That rush is spreading beyond the original text to children’s versions, graphic adaptations and Greek-myth retellings such as Circe, suggesting the film is broadening the audience for classics rather than just reviving assigned reading.