You Should Have Known vs. The Undoing (book vs. series)

The last book to screen that I’ve attempted to read and watch from HBO was Sharp Objects, about 4-5 years ago, and it didn’t end very well. Firstly, the book is not the best thriller as the story is not something that will stay with you when you think of good, strong storytelling and twists and turns and omg-scenes. But I do remember being grossly surprised by the ending. Unfortunately, as much as I love Amy Adams, I could not finish the adaptation. I don’t even recall the exact number of episodes that I’ve watched – maybe 3 or 4. The atmosphere of it felt too suffocating which seems to be the HBO-way when it comes to creating series.

The Undoing was one of the hit shows that came out during the first year of the pandemic, around the last months of 2020. I have ordered the book at the time, because I wanted to read it before watching the show, but like for everybody else – life got in the way and here I am almost 3 years later.

The book was actually published under the title You Should Have Known, in 2014, which I found profoundly smartly written by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Although it is quite a long book, around 400+ pages, and despite the fact that it can take you a little while to be swept up by the story, I must say that it was very well described for a psychological thriller. I always find thrillers and true crime documentaries interesting for exactly this aspect – the psychology of it all.

In You Should Have Known, we meet Grace. She is a successful New York based therapist on the verge of publishing her first self-help book under the title of “You Should Have Known”. The biggest most interesting thing to me was the posibility of following her psychological journey through the unravel of the events leading up and following the death of Mrs. Alves for which her husband was the main suspect. I will underline the main differences between the book (published by Faber in the UK and Litera in Romania) and the HBO adaptation at the end.

Don’t screw up the beginning and you won’t have a lot of these problems down the line.

At the end of November 2020, ~~I was getting over my first infection of Covid-19 (such a joy 😒)~~ HBO was releasing the first episodes of The Undoing, a new limited series. The show was written by David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies), directed by Susanne Bier (Bird Box, The Night Manager, Serena, just to name some of my favs), and gracefully acted by Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Donald Sutherland, and Noah Jupe. I can see why people raved about this series so much when it came out, especially people that were not familiar with the book. The 6 episodes keep you guessing over and over again who’s done it, who killed the victim. I was even wandering of what the ending might be because it certainly felt like they were going to change it. I had the element of surprise on how they delivered the final twist and outcome even though it was the same as the book.

Talking about changes though, we must, because there were quite a few. I was excited to watch the first two episodes that were almost identical to the material in the book, until I’ve played the third one. And don’t get me wrong, the changes did not affect the story or its outcome, but the script allowed it to unfold differently.

A good psychological thriller, both as a book and as a series, so go ahead and enjoy both or just one of them, you won’t be disappointed.

P.S. Nicole Kidman can sing, too. She performed the title sequence song, a cover of Dream A Little Dream. 🎶

Spoiler warning.

• Malaga Alves is called Elena Alves in the HBO series
• Malaga is late for the fundraising meeting, but in the HBO series is Grace who arrives late
• The surname of the main characters is Sachs in the book, not Fraser
• Although we see him quite a lot in the show, Jonathan does not come along Grace at the school fundraising, he comes to the party briefly without making contact with Grace. In the book, he sends Grace a text to advise of his brief presence and the fact that he had to leave early
• Grace’s father is not part of the fundraising and does not attend the event as presented in the HBO series
• There is a scene in the book that was delivered by a man, but in the HBO series there is a lady playing it out – the tap water scene from the fundraising event
• In the book, Grace goes to the toilet and hears somebody cry without finding out who it is. In the HBO series, she has a discussion with Elena Alves who ends up kissing her in the elevator; nothing of this does not happen in the book
• Grace is not about to release a book and does not give an interview for Vogue, although these aspects are part of the first chapter of the book and remain talked about throughout
• The first discussion that Grace has with the detectives takes place in the entryway of her apartment building, not in her home as it is presented in the HBO series
• Grace’s father is re-married, is not crazy rich and does not have a maid tending to his house in the book
• Sylvia and Grace are having coffee when they first go out to a coffee shop to talk about what’s going on, but they are serving water in the HBO series
• Grace and the detective are taking a seat in her living room while the search warrant is carried out, but in the HBO series they just stand in the hallway
• In the HBO series, Jonathan confesses about his infidelity after breaking in the beach house, but in the book he sends Grace a letter at the very end confessing to not only the infidelity, but the murder; it is this letter that ends up helping the police to catch him
• Jonathan’s doctor colleague has a different name in the book and he only talks to Grace once in a coffee shop
• Grace and Henry are moving out from the New York apartment to the beach house where they remain until the end, but in the HBO series they move from the New York apartment, to the beach house, and then to her father’s house
• In the book, Jonathan is a character that is being talked about, he is almost non-present in the book apart from the text message he sends Grace early on, the letter, and a brief telephone call; I thought this was very cool for a villain to be almost absent and for the story to evolve without him
• Miguel moves away with his father in another country and they are not part of any further scenes in the book, but in the HBO series they have much bigger roles
• Elena’s husband leaves the baby behing with the Social Services because he refuses to take care of a child that is not biogically his; the baby ends up with Jonathan’s brother and sister-in-law, but none of this is presented the same in the HBO series
• There are moments where the scrip makes you believe Elena Alves was obsessed with Grace, which is not the case at all in the book
• Jonathan does not go to visit Elena’s husband like they show in the HBO series; like I was saying above, he is almost non-existent in any scenes in the book
• Jonathan’s trial/defence team does not exist in the book
• Jonathan is not British in the book; he, Grace, and Henry are a family of Jewish New Yorkers
• In the HBO series we only meet his mother, but in the book Grace’s visits their home where she meets both his parents and his brother. It is in this scene that Grace finds out that the baby is now living with them, plus the true story about the dog lie, and the death of his sister (which was actually a little brother in the book)
• Jonathan’s borther is the only family member on his side that attends his wedding with Grace against his wish, leaving early following a discussion that Grace was not aware of until she visits them
• The HBO series ends with Jonathan kidnapping Henry and attempting suicide; goes without saying that this does not happen in the book