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Letters to Montgomery Clift
“I started my life in America and my search for my parents, well only my mother now— with Monty as my guide. The journey to find my mother would not be complete without him.” And so begins Letters To Montgomery Clift, a first novel by Noel Alumit; a coming of age story of Bong Bong Luwad, a Filipino boy, who enlists the spirit of 1950s screen idol Montgomery Clift to help him find his mother who is imprisoned in the Philippines under the Marcos regime. After being sent to America by his mother, he is taught by his Aunt to write letters to saints and dead relatives to ask them for favors. As he watches the movie The Search, where Montgomery Clift helps a young boy find his mother, he starts to believe that Monty can do this for him. His letters begin and through time he starts to see visions of Monty himself. As he reaches adolescence and his hopes of finding his mother diminish, Bong Bong begins to fall deeper into his fantasy world with Clift. When eventually he travels back to his homeland and finds the whereabouts of his mother, he is able to bid a final farewell to Monty and begin his life anew back in the States with his family. Letters To Montgomery Clift is a novel of endurance and hope. It is a tale of growing up, coming out and going home.
244 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 9, 2008
December 4, 1976
dear mr. montgomery clift,
i want one thing only. please bring my mama back to me. safe. with no more bruises.
i will wait one week. if nothing bad happens then i know it is ok to write you.
Sign
bong bong luwad
With that one child-like letter, author Noel Alumit sets a haunting tone that carries on throughout his remarkable debut novel, Letters to Montgomery Clift. But not only does that letter mark the beginning of the story, it is also the start of a long and sometime intimate relationship that young Bong Bong Luwad develops with Mr. Montgomery Clift, the dead, sexually confused actor who starred in such films as From Here to Eternity and The Search. But don’t let this tone fool you. Letters to Montgomery Clift is not a downer of a book. It is at its heart a story about love, about growing up and coming out, about enduring and overcoming, and, most of all, about going home.
We learn that Bong Bong’s story starts before he discovers the cinema persona of Mr. Clift and, in fact, before he ever comes to America. Born in the Philippines during that country’s most repressive regimes, Bong Bong is witness to the thugs of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos beating his mother and father, both democratic activists, and carting his father away to some unknown location. His mother, fearing for her boy, manages to smuggle Bong Bong out of the Philippines, sending him to live with his auntie in the United States of America and vowing that she and her husband will join him there soon. It is a promise Bong Bong holds onto dearly as the first people in his family begin to “disappear.”
In Los Angeles, Bong Bong lives with his Auntie Yuna, an abusive, alcoholic woman whose life has not gone as she thought it would. Though life with her is fairly toxic, Bong Bong is still with family and he knows deep down that it won’t be long before his Mama and Papa come for him. But when time passes and life with Yuna becomes more and more unstable, Bong Bong begins to wonder just when his parents will fulfill their promise.
One night, the devoutly Catholic Yuna tell young Bong Bong about why she prays, how she prays. It’s better, she says, to write them down, otherwise the prayers just go from your head into thin air. And it is even better to send the prayers to dead relatives because, Dead relatives already know you and you know them. People will do things for people they know. God knows everyone and treats everyone the same. I want to ask a favor from someone who will give better treatment.
Not knowing any of his relatives, Bong Bong doesn’t know to whom he should direct his prayers. Then one night, while watching The Search on television, he is struck by the kindhearted soldier, played by Mr. Clift, who cares for a young boy until his mother returns. Bong Bong decides that if Mr. Clift helped that young boy, surely he would so the same for him. Mr. Clift becomes his patron saint, and Bong Bong begins writing prayers to him, a habit that will continue for years and become very nearly his only means of emotional support.
Auntie Yuna, Bong Bong discovers, is also somewhat of a busy-body, constantly keeping an eye on the rather attractive man next door and his floozy (to her anyway) girlfriend. While she wishes the man’s attentions were being paid to her, Yuna tells Bong Bong that the man is evil. Through the wall, Bong Bong hears the sounds that Mr. Evil and his girlfriend make at night and becomes fascinated with the man, spying on him at one point because he wants to see what evil looks like. Mr. Clift…evil is real good looking. Soon, though, Bong Bong, Mr. Evil and his girlfriend become friends, and Bong Bong finds a support sorely lacking in his life. That is until Mr. Evil gets a job that transfers him away, and yet two more people disappear from Bong Bong’s life. When Auntie Yuna vanishes, too, on her way to a liquor store, Bong Bong is left alone to fend for himself until showing up on Social Services’ radar.
Cut off from all family, absent parents whose love he is beginning to doubt, Bong Bong is shuffled from bad foster home to bad foster home. Ultimately, he lands with an affluent Filipino-American family and though the situation seems ideal, the hole in Bong Bong (now rechristened Bob) only widens, and slowly his need for Mr. Clift becomes desperate, all-consuming, obsessive-compulsive. As he grows into adulthood he becomes as self destructive as Mr. Clift had been, and when he discovers that his new family has skeletons of their own in their closet, everything comes to a boil. His life—and sanity—starts spiraling out of control. Where does Bong Bong go from here? Can Mr. Clift save him the way he did that little boy in the movie? And whatever became of his parents who never, ever seemed to want to come to him.
Alumit packs a lot into this novel—the political climate of the Philippines, the cultural significance of religion in Filipino families, self abuse, mental illness, teen pregnancy, burgeoning awareness of sexuality, but never once does it feel crowded or overwrought. More importantly, it never gets in the way of Bong Bong’s story. Each of these things is simply an aspect of his life, the multitude of things that swirl about him. The focus remains solely on our protagonist. Part of this is due to Alumit’s expert use of clean, simple language. Bong Bong’s voice does indeed “change” as he gets older, but the author always keeps the prose sharply focused and to the point, and the letters to Mr. Clift which start each chapter give a cohesive feel even as the character’s narrative voice grows up.
Alumit also has an expert eye for real-life dialog and the little details that make up lives. The result is that the setting and the characters are full without feeling overworked. And we are treated to a protagonist who is eminently appealing and someone you want to root for. You hurt for him when things are bad and brighten when something good comes his way. But this also extends to even the less immediately likable characters such as Auntie Yuna who, despite her problems, the reader is never made to despise her. In fact, you develop an empathy for this broken woman, and though it is not easy, you can even come to forgive her a little for her foibles.
And when it comes to Bong Bong’s parents, by their absence they become as strong a character as any other in the novel, their spirit omnipresent. It’s remarkable that characters who appear so briefly in the novel seem to grow as the story does, and your feelings toward them shift as does Bong Bong’s. One moment you love them and the next, you hate them for leaving their son alone.
Perhaps the strongest relationship in the book is the relationship between Bong Bong and Mr. Clift. For an illusory relationship, it is a strong and appealing one. Bong Bong finds in him a saint, a friend, a mentor, a lover, a father and a faulty role model. Clift becomes the mirror for Bong Bong, the sole source of support, and a measure of comfort. And then he becomes a crutch that Bong Bong simply can’t let go of, because he cannot deal with someone else in his life diasppearing.
Something wonderful about this book is that Bong Bong—unlike Mr. Clift—never seems conflicted about his sexuality. Certainly, he has issues around it, but as for angst over being gay, Bong Bong is remarkably free of that, a fact I greatly appreciated. In a very real sense, this is a coming of age story, but it is not as so many novels people with gay characters, a sexual coming of age.
Alumit dedicates his book “To those who have Disappeared,” and loss—loss of family, loss of political freedoms, loss of human contact—is the driving theme of the novel and it is what defines Bong Bong Luwad, at the very least, in his own mind. Despite this and to Alumit’s immense credit, although the novel can be an emotional roller coaster, the loss is balanced with an optimism which at times seems to defy logic, almost crossing into faith. As bad as things get for Bong Bong, there is still that faint glimmer of hope burning in him that refuses to be snuffed out, a hope that pushes him to move forward and yet drives him to the brink of insanity.
By books’ end, Alumit has taken us on a terribly affecting emotional journey of sorrow and loss and joy and resignation, yet the hope pervading the novel resonates deeply, ultimately creating a remarkably uplifting story of love—for one’s family and for one’s self—of growth and of survival and new beginnings.
It is a novel for which I have great fondness and respect and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable
dear mr. montgomery clift,
i want one thing only. please bring my mama back to me. safe. with no more bruises.
i will wait one week. if nothing bad happens then i know it is ok to write you.
Sign
bong bong luwad
With that one child-like letter, author Noel Alumit sets a haunting tone that carries on throughout his remarkable debut novel, Letters to Montgomery Clift. But not only does that letter mark the beginning of the story, it is also the start of a long and sometime intimate relationship that young Bong Bong Luwad develops with Mr. Montgomery Clift, the dead, sexually confused actor who starred in such films as From Here to Eternity and The Search. But don’t let this tone fool you. Letters to Montgomery Clift is not a downer of a book. It is at its heart a story about love, about growing up and coming out, about enduring and overcoming, and, most of all, about going home.
We learn that Bong Bong’s story starts before he discovers the cinema persona of Mr. Clift and, in fact, before he ever comes to America. Born in the Philippines during that country’s most repressive regimes, Bong Bong is witness to the thugs of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos beating his mother and father, both democratic activists, and carting his father away to some unknown location. His mother, fearing for her boy, manages to smuggle Bong Bong out of the Philippines, sending him to live with his auntie in the United States of America and vowing that she and her husband will join him there soon. It is a promise Bong Bong holds onto dearly as the first people in his family begin to “disappear.”
In Los Angeles, Bong Bong lives with his Auntie Yuna, an abusive, alcoholic woman whose life has not gone as she thought it would. Though life with her is fairly toxic, Bong Bong is still with family and he knows deep down that it won’t be long before his Mama and Papa come for him. But when time passes and life with Yuna becomes more and more unstable, Bong Bong begins to wonder just when his parents will fulfill their promise.
One night, the devoutly Catholic Yuna tell young Bong Bong about why she prays, how she prays. It’s better, she says, to write them down, otherwise the prayers just go from your head into thin air. And it is even better to send the prayers to dead relatives because, Dead relatives already know you and you know them. People will do things for people they know. God knows everyone and treats everyone the same. I want to ask a favor from someone who will give better treatment.
Not knowing any of his relatives, Bong Bong doesn’t know to whom he should direct his prayers. Then one night, while watching The Search on television, he is struck by the kindhearted soldier, played by Mr. Clift, who cares for a young boy until his mother returns. Bong Bong decides that if Mr. Clift helped that young boy, surely he would so the same for him. Mr. Clift becomes his patron saint, and Bong Bong begins writing prayers to him, a habit that will continue for years and become very nearly his only means of emotional support.
Auntie Yuna, Bong Bong discovers, is also somewhat of a busy-body, constantly keeping an eye on the rather attractive man next door and his floozy (to her anyway) girlfriend. While she wishes the man’s attentions were being paid to her, Yuna tells Bong Bong that the man is evil. Through the wall, Bong Bong hears the sounds that Mr. Evil and his girlfriend make at night and becomes fascinated with the man, spying on him at one point because he wants to see what evil looks like. Mr. Clift…evil is real good looking. Soon, though, Bong Bong, Mr. Evil and his girlfriend become friends, and Bong Bong finds a support sorely lacking in his life. That is until Mr. Evil gets a job that transfers him away, and yet two more people disappear from Bong Bong’s life. When Auntie Yuna vanishes, too, on her way to a liquor store, Bong Bong is left alone to fend for himself until showing up on Social Services’ radar.
Cut off from all family, absent parents whose love he is beginning to doubt, Bong Bong is shuffled from bad foster home to bad foster home. Ultimately, he lands with an affluent Filipino-American family and though the situation seems ideal, the hole in Bong Bong (now rechristened Bob) only widens, and slowly his need for Mr. Clift becomes desperate, all-consuming, obsessive-compulsive. As he grows into adulthood he becomes as self destructive as Mr. Clift had been, and when he discovers that his new family has skeletons of their own in their closet, everything comes to a boil. His life—and sanity—starts spiraling out of control. Where does Bong Bong go from here? Can Mr. Clift save him the way he did that little boy in the movie? And whatever became of his parents who never, ever seemed to want to come to him.
Alumit packs a lot into this novel—the political climate of the Philippines, the cultural significance of religion in Filipino families, self abuse, mental illness, teen pregnancy, burgeoning awareness of sexuality, but never once does it feel crowded or overwrought. More importantly, it never gets in the way of Bong Bong’s story. Each of these things is simply an aspect of his life, the multitude of things that swirl about him. The focus remains solely on our protagonist. Part of this is due to Alumit’s expert use of clean, simple language. Bong Bong’s voice does indeed “change” as he gets older, but the author always keeps the prose sharply focused and to the point, and the letters to Mr. Clift which start each chapter give a cohesive feel even as the character’s narrative voice grows up.
Alumit also has an expert eye for real-life dialog and the little details that make up lives. The result is that the setting and the characters are full without feeling overworked. And we are treated to a protagonist who is eminently appealing and someone you want to root for. You hurt for him when things are bad and brighten when something good comes his way. But this also extends to even the less immediately likable characters such as Auntie Yuna who, despite her problems, the reader is never made to despise her. In fact, you develop an empathy for this broken woman, and though it is not easy, you can even come to forgive her a little for her foibles.
And when it comes to Bong Bong’s parents, by their absence they become as strong a character as any other in the novel, their spirit omnipresent. It’s remarkable that characters who appear so briefly in the novel seem to grow as the story does, and your feelings toward them shift as does Bong Bong’s. One moment you love them and the next, you hate them for leaving their son alone.
Perhaps the strongest relationship in the book is the relationship between Bong Bong and Mr. Clift. For an illusory relationship, it is a strong and appealing one. Bong Bong finds in him a saint, a friend, a mentor, a lover, a father and a faulty role model. Clift becomes the mirror for Bong Bong, the sole source of support, and a measure of comfort. And then he becomes a crutch that Bong Bong simply can’t let go of, because he cannot deal with someone else in his life diasppearing.
Something wonderful about this book is that Bong Bong—unlike Mr. Clift—never seems conflicted about his sexuality. Certainly, he has issues around it, but as for angst over being gay, Bong Bong is remarkably free of that, a fact I greatly appreciated. In a very real sense, this is a coming of age story, but it is not as so many novels people with gay characters, a sexual coming of age.
Alumit dedicates his book “To those who have Disappeared,” and loss—loss of family, loss of political freedoms, loss of human contact—is the driving theme of the novel and it is what defines Bong Bong Luwad, at the very least, in his own mind. Despite this and to Alumit’s immense credit, although the novel can be an emotional roller coaster, the loss is balanced with an optimism which at times seems to defy logic, almost crossing into faith. As bad as things get for Bong Bong, there is still that faint glimmer of hope burning in him that refuses to be snuffed out, a hope that pushes him to move forward and yet drives him to the brink of insanity.
By books’ end, Alumit has taken us on a terribly affecting emotional journey of sorrow and loss and joy and resignation, yet the hope pervading the novel resonates deeply, ultimately creating a remarkably uplifting story of love—for one’s family and for one’s self—of growth and of survival and new beginnings.
It is a novel for which I have great fondness and respect and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable
September 3, 2010
Strange and Beautiful. You should read this book.
February 24, 2012
Remarkable book, so very powerful and heartwrenching and almost sickening at times but wonderfully wonderfully rewarding.
The narrative style really bothered me for a good long while, though. Maybe it was an attempt at the childlike voice? The very abrupt sentence structure that kept repeating and rarely varying, enough that I began to get very irritated and missing the musicality I want from a good writing style. Now I'm giving Alumit the benefit of the artistic doubt and excusing that as not just the childlike device but also one to illustrate the dormant trauma of our disconnected protagonist.
Once he, our protagonist, began to evolve, began to gain an adult if still fucked up understanding of the world and himself, the sentence structure began to open itself up too. More varied, more accomplished, more real. By the end of the novel, I thought it was pretty close to excellent.
And yeah, as an intense Montgomery Clift fan as well, I completely and utterly related to the sheer yearning of our protagonist. I knew exactly how he felt, the desire, the identification, the wondering at the mystery of Monty. And oh god, the grave. I liked so much how the movies were woven into the narrative, how they reflected upon our protagonist's own journey and his own psyche. And christ, yes, the AIDS aspect was worked so very well to chilling fabulously literary effect.
The politics and real emotional fall-out was hard to read but necessary, very much so, especially coming as I do from a position of complete ignorance about Filipino history and culture. Makes me so glad I read this book, for more than just to explore the use of Montgomery Clift and his films as a literary device.
The narrative style really bothered me for a good long while, though. Maybe it was an attempt at the childlike voice? The very abrupt sentence structure that kept repeating and rarely varying, enough that I began to get very irritated and missing the musicality I want from a good writing style. Now I'm giving Alumit the benefit of the artistic doubt and excusing that as not just the childlike device but also one to illustrate the dormant trauma of our disconnected protagonist.
Once he, our protagonist, began to evolve, began to gain an adult if still fucked up understanding of the world and himself, the sentence structure began to open itself up too. More varied, more accomplished, more real. By the end of the novel, I thought it was pretty close to excellent.
And yeah, as an intense Montgomery Clift fan as well, I completely and utterly related to the sheer yearning of our protagonist. I knew exactly how he felt, the desire, the identification, the wondering at the mystery of Monty. And oh god, the grave. I liked so much how the movies were woven into the narrative, how they reflected upon our protagonist's own journey and his own psyche. And christ, yes, the AIDS aspect was worked so very well to chilling fabulously literary effect.
The politics and real emotional fall-out was hard to read but necessary, very much so, especially coming as I do from a position of complete ignorance about Filipino history and culture. Makes me so glad I read this book, for more than just to explore the use of Montgomery Clift and his films as a literary device.
July 6, 2023
Loved. Devoured in a day.
April 19, 2020
Nice surprise.
Wella, it's pretty challenging reviewing a book and call it beautiful when it's about abuse and rape and kidnapping families and obsession and self harm and and AND. That's a lot.
It's written beautifuly. Characters are real and history is real. Learnt a lot about Bong's culturl!
I've loved the letters. It comines the Hollywood background and history of vintage movies with Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor and 50's stars. I've learnt about it too.
At first you are in shock.
Then you just can't stop.
Also, the love story with Logan. WHOA
Be warned. It's not an easy read. The self harming parts and the hospitlized. It was hard. I had to take a break. Reminds a bit A Little Life and Suicide Notes and Break . . .
After three hours I was BACK and finished it! ADDICTIVE
Wella, it's pretty challenging reviewing a book and call it beautiful when it's about abuse and rape and kidnapping families and obsession and self harm and and AND. That's a lot.
It's written beautifuly. Characters are real and history is real. Learnt a lot about Bong's culturl!
I've loved the letters. It comines the Hollywood background and history of vintage movies with Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor and 50's stars. I've learnt about it too.
At first you are in shock.
Then you just can't stop.
Also, the love story with Logan. WHOA
Be warned. It's not an easy read. The self harming parts and the hospitlized. It was hard. I had to take a break. Reminds a bit A Little Life and Suicide Notes and Break . . .
After three hours I was BACK and finished it! ADDICTIVE
October 29, 2010
This is a story about how a boy deals with loss as he grows and becomes an adult. And, it is about unfailing hope and optimism. If you are looking for a Gay romance, this book is not for you. Help! I don't know what to say... If you like reading literary fiction, working on several levels, I recommend this book.
May 31, 2009
I read this book as soon as it came out in 2003 and devoured it! I have only read it once, though it is by far one of my favorite books of all time, and now that Im 26... I'd love to read it again and see how it translates to a slightly older, me.
July 8, 2015
I found myself engrossed in this. It is one of the few times I've found a book that looks at intersections of identities: in this case, Filipino, male, gay, immigrant, orphan. And it takes some really dark turns, but important turns to help one understand why fantasy often wins over reality.
January 15, 2013
Incredible. Breath taking and quite moving. but with a horrible ending....
May 18, 2020
It's truly a shame that Letters to Montgomery Clift has so few reviews/ratings on Goodreads. Although this book was published nearly two decades ago, I bought it in 2017 simply because I wanted to read a book with a queer Filipino narrator. I finally read it in 2020 for Asian Heritage Month (and as someone who is half-Filipino, I don't frequently see Filipino characters/authors without actively looking for them).
Letters to Montgomery Clift follows Bong Bong, a boy born in the Philippines who is sent to live with his bitter, abusive aunt in the United States after his parents are attacked by the Marcos regime. While with Auntie Yuna, Bong watches movies starring the actor Montgomery Clift. Looking up to one of the characters Mr. Clift plays, Bong decides to take on Auntie Yuna's practice of writing letters to the dead and writes letters to Montgomery Clift. Later, a foster family takes in Bong Bong, who now goes by Bob. While living with the Arangan family, Bob continues writing his letters, and even sees, touches, and forms a relationship with Montgomery Clift. Although Bob's main priority is to find out what happened to his parents, as expressed in his letters, Bob deals with a variety of obstacles and self-discoveries as the years go on.
Letters to Montgomery Clift certainly is not a long book, but it covers so much. There is a lot of heavy topics to process here, including child abuse, politics, graphic torture, kidnapping, disappearing persons, mental illness, self harm, sexuality, immigration, and teen pregnancy, to name a few. But if this is something you can stomach, I highly recommend this book. Noël Alumit fits so many things in so few pages, but it works so well. There's pain, suffering, confusion, anger, and violence, but there's just enough hope and love by the end that makes this read worthwhile.
I will say though, this book is definitely not perfect. The writing style was choppy and unimpressive; there was also quite a few run on sentences that I really did not appreciate. I wish some topics were further elaborated on, but again, there was a lot going on. Also, this book covers a span of multiple years of Bong/Bob's life, but I didn't think there was a smooth enough transition to indicate passage of time. I sometimes had to go back and read the end of a chapter because I'd get confused on how much time has passed.
Regardless, this is a story that needs to be heard. It's not often that a gay Filipino immigrant is the center of a novel and it's not often that I find a book that I immediately mark as a favorite. This one is quite special.
Letters to Montgomery Clift follows Bong Bong, a boy born in the Philippines who is sent to live with his bitter, abusive aunt in the United States after his parents are attacked by the Marcos regime. While with Auntie Yuna, Bong watches movies starring the actor Montgomery Clift. Looking up to one of the characters Mr. Clift plays, Bong decides to take on Auntie Yuna's practice of writing letters to the dead and writes letters to Montgomery Clift. Later, a foster family takes in Bong Bong, who now goes by Bob. While living with the Arangan family, Bob continues writing his letters, and even sees, touches, and forms a relationship with Montgomery Clift. Although Bob's main priority is to find out what happened to his parents, as expressed in his letters, Bob deals with a variety of obstacles and self-discoveries as the years go on.
Letters to Montgomery Clift certainly is not a long book, but it covers so much. There is a lot of heavy topics to process here, including child abuse, politics, graphic torture, kidnapping, disappearing persons, mental illness, self harm, sexuality, immigration, and teen pregnancy, to name a few. But if this is something you can stomach, I highly recommend this book. Noël Alumit fits so many things in so few pages, but it works so well. There's pain, suffering, confusion, anger, and violence, but there's just enough hope and love by the end that makes this read worthwhile.
I will say though, this book is definitely not perfect. The writing style was choppy and unimpressive; there was also quite a few run on sentences that I really did not appreciate. I wish some topics were further elaborated on, but again, there was a lot going on. Also, this book covers a span of multiple years of Bong/Bob's life, but I didn't think there was a smooth enough transition to indicate passage of time. I sometimes had to go back and read the end of a chapter because I'd get confused on how much time has passed.
Regardless, this is a story that needs to be heard. It's not often that a gay Filipino immigrant is the center of a novel and it's not often that I find a book that I immediately mark as a favorite. This one is quite special.
January 14, 2018
Admittedly the idea behind Alumit's book "Letters to Montgomery Clift" is a good one: the coming of age story of a young Filipino boy separated from his parents because of the Marcos Dictatorship who struggles with his sexuality and mental illness. Unfortunately the format and style of the book leave the reader wanting for more: depth, intricacy, language.
While it makes sense that the letters to Monty that introduce each chapter of the book would be written according to the language of a child - after all the letter writer is a young boy - Alumit's use of child-like language by his narrator to tell the story leaves many issues without much depth. A story that could have been told in a nicely stylistic way was left bland.
This is further complicated by Alumit constant and consistent introduction of serious roadblocks and issues in the lives of his characters that in almost all situations are not dealt with in nearly enough detail. This leaves many of the books topics and themes - and characters - as mere charicatures of what they could have actually been. A book that has the backbone and fortitude to tell a very significant story, "Letters to Montgomery Clift" unfortunately leaves one in incredibly shallow waters.
While it makes sense that the letters to Monty that introduce each chapter of the book would be written according to the language of a child - after all the letter writer is a young boy - Alumit's use of child-like language by his narrator to tell the story leaves many issues without much depth. A story that could have been told in a nicely stylistic way was left bland.
This is further complicated by Alumit constant and consistent introduction of serious roadblocks and issues in the lives of his characters that in almost all situations are not dealt with in nearly enough detail. This leaves many of the books topics and themes - and characters - as mere charicatures of what they could have actually been. A book that has the backbone and fortitude to tell a very significant story, "Letters to Montgomery Clift" unfortunately leaves one in incredibly shallow waters.
October 12, 2021
Very puerile and overly fraught with trauma and bad writing. The reference to Montgomery Clift in the title was the bait that caught me, as I am a fervent fan of the actor. But this book just left me exhausted and unmoved and really fed up of its narrative of suffering under Marcos' Philippines. Boy tormented by his father's torture and mother's inability to join him in the States takes to blotching books in library, having random sexual encounters, praying to Monty and resenting his adopters. Ew!
November 13, 2021
This book surprised me, considering I did not know what to expect as I started it. As as a fan of Montgomery Clift’s films, I was intrigued by this book, of a young Filipino boy writing letters to Montgomery, as a way of dealing with life. From being sent to America by his activist and rebel parents, to his understanding of his own self, and sexuality - all the time with the idea of Montgomery Clift by his side. Beautiful story, and beautifully written.
April 14, 2018
A beautiful ghost/coming of age story about a gay boy where coming out is barely a part of the narrative at all—wonderful. Only knocked a star off because the early narration is from a child's POV. I find that a difficult style to nail and it felt a little awkward here, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the book.
November 3, 2018
less sensational and more down-to-earth than i expected.
February 29, 2024
super compelling read and super dense! i had a good time reading it and it was a writing style that enabled a lot of conversation. read for a class but i'm really glad that i did
March 26, 2010
when I worked in the homeless shelter, this old guy would come in every night and, looking at me, would shout out "Montgomery Clift". I reminded him of the actor. Not knowing the actor's work, some friends and I rented "The Misfits", it was pretty clear pretty quickly I don't really look like Clift. Years later, I saw "The Search" with Clift, Ivan Jandl, and Jarmila Novotna. "The Search" is an amazing film. filmed in the ruins of post-war Germany, Clift is a strong male character yet as a nurturing male. Jandl was a Czech child-actor later harassed by the Communist government for his role in an American film. So, this is why I'm reading "Letters..."
Now, I've finished the book. While the story of a Filipino boy of Anti-Marcos parents escaping only to become a foster child in a Marcos crony household in the US is compelling, it is almost used as a backdrop. The protagonist's gay sexuality is almost a backdrop too, to the infatuation with Montgomery Clift. However, even Clift gets short-sheeted. His movie roles get only a cursory discussion. While the letters to Clift that begin each chapter start as a grounding device to the structure of the novel, eventually they appear merely for form and don't really add anything to the story.
Oh, I thought the dialogue was often pretty hackneyed and the characters weren't well-developed.
Now, I've finished the book. While the story of a Filipino boy of Anti-Marcos parents escaping only to become a foster child in a Marcos crony household in the US is compelling, it is almost used as a backdrop. The protagonist's gay sexuality is almost a backdrop too, to the infatuation with Montgomery Clift. However, even Clift gets short-sheeted. His movie roles get only a cursory discussion. While the letters to Clift that begin each chapter start as a grounding device to the structure of the novel, eventually they appear merely for form and don't really add anything to the story.
Oh, I thought the dialogue was often pretty hackneyed and the characters weren't well-developed.
August 24, 2016
A little clumsy but forgivably so for a first novel. Bong Bong, sent from the Philippines to the US by his parents during the period of political unrest under the Marcos regime, grows up lonely in America as he's shifted from foster home to foster home, wondering where his parents are and why they haven't come for him. In their place, he writes to Montgomery Clift, whose movies comfort him, and as he tries to deal with a whole onslaught of difficult moments (coming to terms with the role his foster parents play in his parents' fate, grappling with his own sexuality, and other family issues) he drifts further and further into an unreality where Monty is the only person who's real to him.
There's a real heartache in the story, and Bong Bong's voice from child to adult is compelling. He makes for a likeable protagonist, even as he's descending into some sad, dark moments of madness. The ending feels earned, not tying things up too neatly, but full of hope.
There's a real heartache in the story, and Bong Bong's voice from child to adult is compelling. He makes for a likeable protagonist, even as he's descending into some sad, dark moments of madness. The ending feels earned, not tying things up too neatly, but full of hope.
May 22, 2014
After reading a book!people would say!oh it not a bad book!course they wouldn't accept that he was wasting one week or one month to read a bad book!well I don't like this book so much!its all about negative things!bang always complain about all the things in his life!the nice people in his life either left him or turned out to be a enemy！there is only one guy he can talk,it's Monty!its about a heartbroken boy who was always complain about his life while he is growing up!i was wondering when will be a end!i feel sorry for his parents!but I feel sorry for him more!the little boy who can never learn how to love and forgive!compared to this I am more like the kites runner! Anyway it's positive! For now I still haven't finish reading this book!i wanna leave! But I will see if it negative like a hell!
November 12, 2011
The deceased actor Montgomery Clift is kept alive in this memoir about a boy from the Philippines who is sent to USA to escape the Marcos' regime. Bong (yes!) writes letters to the deceased iconic Montgomery to help him decompress from a variety of stressful and physically traumatic situations. Throughout his search for answers about his imprisoned parents, he finds love, ends up in a mental institution, and experiences a variety of self-destructive habits. Thank god for the happy ending because the turmoil can drag you hopelessly down.
March 20, 2016
A beautiful piece of work, to be perfectly honest. For a novel that's half epistolary and half journeying through the shitstorm that's life, it hurt a lot more than originally expected. A lot of humanization going about, more than I expected in a novel that sets up Life™ as the antagonist instead of an actual person. By no means does it promote Happy Go Lucky Times™, but it does leave an inkling of hope for those who are looking for it. 5/5, definitely worth reading, definitely worth purchasing.
March 26, 2012
4.5 This was a great read for me. It was haunting and sad and deep. It sometimes felt disconnected. And it was beautifully written. I have a strange obsessesion with Monty Clift....He haunts me (only while dreaming :). So this was very satisfying for me.
December 6, 2007
I truly enjoyed reading Noel's book. It made me laugh out loud and cry.
September 8, 2013
A MUST READ BOOK LOVED IT LOVE NOEL'S BOOKS
February 24, 2012
this is a wonderful and poetic read with great characters
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