Seneca Tops Chart, Odyssey Jumps 30 Spots... Who Is Making Classics Bestsellers Again?

Seneca Adapted by Million-Subscriber YouTuber Tops Major Bookstores; Nietzsche Adaptation Ranks Fifth

24-Year-Old "Siddhartha" Rises on Editor and Online Recommendations; Homer's Return Driven by Nolan Film

Classic Reputation Boosted by New Paths of Discovery

Adaptation, Recommendations, and Film Revive Backlist Classics

Two thousand years ago, a Roman philosopher, and 2,800 years ago, a Greek poet—these two figures now find their works front and center in Korean bookstores in the summer of 2026. "Seneca, To You Who Are Being Robbed of Today," a re-edited collection of Seneca's writings, reached first place in both of the country's major bookstores, while Homer's "Odyssey" soared 30 spots at Kyobo Bookstore in just one week. But there were figures behind these classics making them bestsellers once again. For Seneca, a YouTuber with one million subscribers took the spotlight, while for Homer, it was director Christopher Nolan.

According to the bestseller trends for the second week of August, announced by Kyobo Bookstore and Yes24 on the 14th, "Seneca, To You Who Are Being Robbed of Today" held the overall number one spot at both bookstores. At Kyobo Bookstore, Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha" ranked fourth, "Nietzsche's Transcender" was fifth, Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" was seventh, and Homer's "Odyssey" was eighth. "Odyssey" jumped 30 places from the previous week. The data from Kyobo Bookstore covers sales from August 5 to 11.

The trend was even more pronounced at Yes24. Out of the top 10 bestsellers from August 6 to 12, six were classics or modern reinterpretations of classic texts. Seneca was in first place, Hyundai Knowledge’s edition of "Odyssey" was second, Kim Heon's new translation of "Odyssey" was fifth, "Siddhartha" was sixth, "Nietzsche's Transcender" was seventh, and a children's and teen edition of "Odyssey" held eighth. In total, five Homer-related books broke into Yes24’s top 20.

Purely by the numbers, it looks like a "return of the classics." However, a closer look at how each book rose to the top reveals that this wave is somewhat different. Seneca and Nietzsche were adapted by a YouTuber, "Siddhartha" was recommended by editors and online content curators, and for Homer, it was the film that acted as a bridge between readers and the text. The content of these classics hasn’t suddenly changed; what’s changed is the way readers are discovering them.

The most clear-cut example is Seneca. This book is not a full translation of all of Seneca's works. The owner of the self-improvement YouTube channel "Hawaii Mansion" selected key ideas from five of Seneca's dialogues and refashioned them into 55 short essays. Kyobo Bookstore also describes the book in its product introduction as an adapted volume that distills the core philosophy from five dialogues.

Seneca and Nietzsche were adapted by YouTubers, "Siddhartha" was recommended by editors and online content curators, and "Odyssey" rose to the top bestseller rankings following its success as a film. In the second week of August, "Seneca, To You Who Are Being Deprived of Today" ranked first simultaneously on Kyobo Bookstore and Yes24. "Odyssey" by Hyundai Jisung rose 30 places to number eight on Kyobo Bookstore’s chart. At Yes24, five books related to "Odyssey" entered the top 20 in the overall rankings.

The role of adaptation goes beyond just translation. It includes not only picking which parts of ancient texts to read, but also explaining why they are relevant today. The title itself is not "Seneca’s Dialogues," but rather "To You Who Are Being Robbed of Today," foregrounding the concerns of time-pressed modern people over Seneca's place in the history of philosophy. When the book reached the number one spot at Yes24 for the first time last week, its sales jumped by 186.3% compared to the previous week. Among the buyers, 39.6% were in their 50s and 37.4% were in their 40s, meaning those in their 40s and 50s accounted for 77% overall.

"Nietzsche’s Transcender" follows a similar structure. Kim Cheol, who runs the YouTube channel "Philosophy Daily," has selected content from several of Nietzsche's major books that would be helpful to modern readers and adapted it into 77 essays. Rather than tracing philosophical lineages, the book brings issues like suffering, fate, personal standards, and attitudes toward life and relationships to the fore. This week, it is ranked fifth overall at Kyobo Bookstore.

The popularity of these two books isn’t fully explained by simply noting that “philosophy books are selling well.” These are classics broken into short sections, retitled in contemporary language, and delivered by content creators already familiar to readers. Even after an author writes a book, someone else selects what to read and gives readers reasons to read it. This is a moment when part of the creative force behind bestsellers shifts from the reputation of the work itself to those who help readers discover them.

A scene from director Christopher Nolan's film Odyssey. Following the film's success, the original work Odyssey by Homer and various translations saw a simultaneous rise in popularity in bookstores. Universal Pictures

"Siddhartha" demonstrates a similar change, even without being re-edited. The Minumsa edition that placed fourth at Kyobo Bookstore was originally published in 2002. In June of this year, it became the first title in Minumsa’s World Literature Series to top Kyobo Bookstore’s overall bestseller chart. At the time, Kyobo Bookstore analyzed that the attention stemmed primarily from a Minumsa editor who had gained widespread recognition as an influencer and recommended books from the World Literature Series. Female reader response was particularly strong, and readers in their 20s led the upward trend.

If Seneca and Nietzsche count as "re-edited classics," then "Siddhartha" is closer to a "rediscovered classic." The content of this 24-year-old edition hasn’t changed; what has changed are the individuals and types of content reintroducing it to readers.

For Homer, it was film that played this role. When Christopher Nolan’s film "Odyssey" opened in Korea on August 5, Hyundai Knowledge’s complete Ancient Greek translation of "Odyssey" leaped 30 spots to eighth place overall at Kyobo Bookstore. Complete translations published by Eulyoo Publishing and Forest Publishing of "Odyssey" also newly ranked 10th and 12th in the humanities category.

At Yes24, the film’s influence spread across all editions. Five related books entered the top 20, with three of them reaching the top 10. In the second week after the film’s release, sales for Kim Heon’s translation of "Odyssey" rose by 389.8% compared to the previous week; the children’s and teen edition increased by 360.9%, and the Hyundai Knowledge edition was up by 166.1%. E-book sales of "Odyssey" climbed 276.3%. Among buyers of these related books, 37.9% were in their 40s and 32.6% in their 50s, meaning those two age groups accounted for 70.5% of the total.

Since the release of the movie "Odyssey," books related to Homer have simultaneously risen in popularity at bookstores. Five related titles entered the top 20 overall rankings of Yes24 in the second week of August, and the translated "Odyssey" by Kim Heon saw a 389.8% increase in sales in its second week compared to the previous week. Among the buyers, 70.5% were in their 40s and 50s.

This is different from the traditional "screenseller" phenomenon, where the film adaptation of only one particular novel drives its resurgent sales. Here, it’s not just a single classic gaining traction, but multiple translated versions, children’s editions, bundled sets with "Iliad," and even script books rising together. Rather than elevating just one edition, the movie effectively dropped the search keyword "Homer" into the entire bookstore market. For example, on Yes24, the "Odyssey Script Book" took first place in the arts category, while "Odyssey" simultaneously ranked first in the fiction/poetry/drama category and second in humanities.

The resurgence of older titles in these rankings isn’t limited to Homer or Hesse. Kyobo Bookstore’s current edition of "Contradiction," ranked sixth, was released in 2013, while seventh-place "Cosmos" was published in 2010. In June, "Cosmos" jumped 16 spots when recommendations from scientist-run YouTube channels coincided with the release of a commemorative edition marking one million domestic sales. The influence of external content is increasingly turning backlist titles into relevant products in a bestseller market once focused solely on new releases.

The reader demographics also vary. For Seneca, the overwhelming majority were in their 40s and 50s, while for "Siddhartha," readers in their 20s and female readers led the resurgence. In contrast, books related to "Odyssey" again had those in their 40s and 50s accounting for over 70% of sales. While it may appear to be a "classic fever," it’s not so much a case of a single generation flocking to classics, but different paths of discovery drawing different reader groups to older books.

The publishing industry sees this trend as the result of the intersection between the traditional demand for classics and new content-driven channels. Kyobo Bookstore highlighted the rise of "Odyssey" as being caused by the movie’s box office success expanding interest in the associated classic, and by various publishers releasing a range of titles and editions that expanded reader choice. Yes24 similarly analyzed that following the film's release, growing demand for a deeper understanding of the original work and its universe led to increased sales for both print and digital books.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.