Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies (1947)
This week many of the Friday Forgotten Book bloggers are posting about crime-themed holiday books. Sorry, but my choice doesn't have a crime but it does has a courtroom scene and (to stretch a point) a mystery of sorts. Miracle on 34th Street was one of the first holiday books I ever read so please indluge me. The book is certainly worthy of notice.
Most people are familiar with the 1947 film starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, and the delightful Edmund Gwenn; many are also familiar with the many remakes for film and television, as well as the stage and musical versions. Not that many people realize that the film was based on a story by Valentine Davies or that Davies expanded the story into a novel to coincide with the movie's release.
I'm trying to remember when I read the book, perhaps in elementary school. I'm fairly certain I got it from the Scholastic Book Club, the same place I got a copy of Robb White's The Secret Sea and James E. Gunn and Jack Williamson's Star Bridge, so it probably waS around 1956 or 1957. I'm pretty sure the copy I read was a Pocket Books edition, most likely the 1952 because I wouldn't have been interested in such "juvenile fare" by the time the 1959 edition came out. (Both editions seemed to have the same cover painting, one quite different from that in my memory, but one's memory can play tricks now, can't it?)
I needn't go into the plot. If you've seen the movie (and I know you have) you've seen the book. And I'm sure you all know there really is a Santa Claus. What interested me most at that age was learning that a favorite movie could be read as a book, and -- in some cases -- a favorite book could be turned into a movie; something that struck home even more when I read Fred Gibson's Old Yeller. I think that's about when I became enamoured with the power of words, expanding my world from The Hardy Boys to the true marvels of the power of story. Anyway, that's why Miracle on 34th Street holds such a special memory for me.
I'm willing to bet the story holds up today. There are a number of copies available from the internet and probably from many libraries. Give it a try. Maybe a little bit of its magic will rub off on you.
For more holiday-themed, mainly criminous books and a wide assortment of other "Forgotten Books," visit Patti Abbott's blog at pattinase.
Jerry, you're right, I'm familiar with the films though, frankly, I didn't know they were based on a book by Valentine Davies.
ReplyDeleteWhat I suggested to Patti was FFB for Winter as a setting OR winter holiday setting. I figured there were a lot of mysteries set in the dead of winter with the cold, snow to wind causing jeopardy to the good guy. But the FFB theme morphed to straight holiday, so there seem none of those. Rats.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know there was a book of this, I only knew of the film, which I love.
Me, too. But with a story like that and the resonance of the films embedded in us, I've no doubt the book will hold up quite well, today and for a long long time.
ReplyDeleteI read the book from the school library when I was in junior high and liked it. I'd already seen the movie and loved it, so I was predisposed to like the book, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWow I've been missing out on your blog. Love this. Maybe a reach out article to everyone - what's the first or favorite book they remember ...
ReplyDelete