JOYCE CAROL OATES DEFENDS NOLAN'S ODYSSEY AGAINST WILSON CRITIQUE

Novelist Joyce Carol Oates has criticised translator Emily Wilson for her assessment of Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Writing on social media, Oates objected to Wilson's essay published this week in the London Review of Books, in which Wilson argued that Nolan's film lacked "psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth" and had "nothing convincing to say". Oates stated that Wilson, who published a complete English translation of the Odyssey in 2017, should have disagreed with Nolan's interpretation "in a collegial manner" rather than adopting what Oates characterised as a dismissive tone. Oates added that Wilson has "benefited enormously from Nolan's film", referring to potential increased sales of her translation.

Wilson's essay, published in the London Review of Books earlier this week, also contended that Nolan's adaptation loses the complexity of Homer's original work and that its narrative structure is gimmicky. The film, which stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, has been widely praised by critics. Oates defended Nolan's decision to "reimagine a classic hero through the prism of his own invention", arguing that most filmmakers "just try the best they can" and that any adaptation of the source material would likely disappoint some viewers. Oates noted that she does not expect the Nolan film to "be considered a great classic", but rejected what she termed Wilson's "tone of dismissal and haughty superiority".

Oates previously expressed reservations about Nolan's interpretation when she compared it unfavourably to a 1997 Hallmark Channel version directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. She praised the television film's portrayal of the relationship between Circe and Odysseus as offering a "much more interesting interpretation" than Nolan's approach. Oates characterised Wilson's criticism as surprising given that all translations are inherently subjective interpretations rather than equivalents to the original text.