The book lands differently rereading as an adult. I was so put out Jo rejected handsome charming Laurie as a teen - until I realised he was always too immature and flippant and self-involved to be a good match for her. He wouldn’t have made her happy - the quirky intellectual professor who she knew she loved for he himself rather than for his youth or charm or privilege was the really happy ever after.

Because the storytelling charm is so founded in the use of language by a witty and wise narrator. It’s not just about dialogue and description, it’s about extradiegetuc commentary - and short of having a constant voiceover, films can’t capture that in the same way.