Read Harder Task #14: Read a Book Whose Movie or TV Adaptation You’ve Seen (But Haven’t Read the Book)

While I’ve only ever read Emma by Jane Austen, I’ve seen this adaptation with the all-star cast, including Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. I imagine this version is very close to the book. Although, who knows! Maybe I’ll read it and discover everyone is eaten by giant pandas at the end. (Awww, so cute.) That’s one of the fun things about adaptations—they’re not always faithful and sometimes the changes are for the better!

This is about head butler Stevens, who works in a stately manor in house post-World War II England. UGH. I still feel sad thinking about the unspoken love between butler Anthony Hopkins and housekeeper Emma Thompson. (Although nothing made me sadder than when his dad fell down.) Do they get a happy ending in the book? WAIT. Don’t tell me, I want to be surprised.

This is the only nonfiction pick on my list today, but it’s a good one, because it highlights the criminally overlooked contributions to the race to space by four Black women mathematicians. Our place among the stars would not have been possible without their three decades of dedicated hard work while traversing a sexist, racist work space. The film is excellent, with a stellar cast, and I know I’ll be picturing the actors in my head as I read the book.

Like Wharton’s Age of Innocence, this is a story of societal niceties, class, and scandal, where people can’t do things or be together because of appearances. I would watch Gillian Anderson in anything, which is how I ended up watching this film. Dan Ackroyd is the cartoonish villain and is not nice to poor Gillian, who must *shudder* get a job to work off a debt.

There Will Be Blood is my second-favorite movie of all time. (Yes, I keep a list, and the first is The Lives of Others, which is not based on a book but OMG watch it now.) Despite not having read it, I have heard that the film version is verrrrrrrry loosely based on the book. Seeing as it is one of my favorites, I’m not sure why I waited so long to read the book. Perhaps because I know it will not be as fun as watching Daniel Day Lewis chew up every scene and spit it out.

And somehow I missed reading this wildly popular story of a woman who discovers her boyfriend is a member of Singapore’s wealthiest family. I’ve heard the book is quite funny, and a funny novel is a hard thing to find, so I should should definitely pick it up soon. (And why is funny so much harder to pull off than sad?)

This is the story of how younger siblings ruin your life. Well, sort of. Laura Jean is in over her head when her younger sister mails the letters she wrote (and never planned to send) to the boys she loved. I haven’t seen the follow-ups to this first film, but I did think this one was extremely charming. (And the soundtrack is fantastic!) And since I own a copy of the book—story of my life tbh—I have no excuse not to read it. Maybe I’ll watch the other movies first, lol.

And finally, this classic! This uber-famous film, about a young woman from a small town trying to live a glamorous life in NYC, is based on a novella. I hear that the book is quite a bit darker than the legendary adaptation. So, Holly Go-not-so-lightly? (Sorry, not sorry.) Related: I am firm in my opinion that the film contains one of the best cats in cinema, whose inspired real name was—wait for it—Orangey.