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thepetitepunk's review
5.0
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.
eriknoteric's review
2.0
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.
alarra's review
3.0
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.
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