Letters to Montgomery Clift
by Noel Alumit
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Book Summary Information
Author: Noel AlumitEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-02-01
ISBN: 1931561028
Number of pages: 244
Publisher: MacAdam/Cage
Book Reviews of Letters to Montgomery Clift
Book Review: Haunting Letters to Montgomery Clift
Summary: 5 Stars
"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 letter, author Noel Alumit sets a haunting tone that carries on throughout his remarkable novel. But not only does that letter mark the beginning of the story, it is also the start of an intimate relationship Bong Bong Luwad develops with Clift, the dead, sexually confused actor. But don't let this tone fool you. This 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.
Bong Bong's story starts before he ever comes to America. Born in the Philippines, he is witness to the thugs of the Marcos regime beating his democratic activist parents, and carting his father away. His mother manages to smuggle Bong Bong out of the Philippines, sending him to live in the United States and vowing she will join him 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, bitter woman. Though life with her is toxic, Bong Bong is still with family and he knows that his Mama and Papa will come for him. But when time passes, he begins to wonder just when his parents will fulfill their promise.
One night, Yuna tells her nephew how she prays. It's better, she says, to write them down, "otherwise the prayers just go from your head into thin air." 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."
Not knowing any relatives, Bong Bong doesn't know to whom he should pray. One night, while watching "The Search" on television, he is struck by the soldier, played by Clift, who cares for a young boy until his mother returns. Bong Bong decides that if Clift helped that young boy, surely he would so the same for him. Clift becomes his patron saint, and Bong Bong begins writing prayers to him, a habit that will continue for years and become his only means of support.
Yuna is also a busy-body, keeping an eye on the attractive man next door and his girlfriend. While she wishes the man's attentions were being paid to her, Yuna tells Bong Bong the man is evil. Bong Bong becomes fascinated with the man, spying on him because he wants to see what evil looks like. "Mr. Clift...evil is real good looking." Soon, Bong Bong and Mr. Evil 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 another person disappears from Bong Bong's life. When Yuna vanishes, on her way to a liquor store, Bong Bong is truly left alone.
Cut off from all family, absent parents whose love he doubts, Bong Bong is shuffled between bad foster homes. Ultimately, he lands with an affluent Filipino-American family and though the situation seems ideal, the hole in Bong Bong widens, and slowly his need for Clift becomes desperate, obsessive-compulsive. As he grows into adulthood, he becomes as self-destructive as Clift, and when he discovers skeletons in his new family's closet, his life and sanity start spiraling out of control.
Alumit packs much into this novel--the political climate of the Philippines, the cultural significance of religion, self-abuse, mental illness, teen pregnancy, sexuality--but it never feels overwrought. More importantly, it never gets in the way of Bong Bong's story. Each of these things is simply one of the multitude of events swirling 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 keeps the prose sharply focused, and the letters starting each chapter bring a cohesion as the character's narrative voice grows up.
Alumit also has an expert eye for dialog and the details of life. The setting and characters are full without feeling overworked. Our protagonist is someone you want to root for, someone you cheer. But this also extends to even the less immediately likable characters such as Yuna who the reader is never made to despise. In fact, you can even forgive her for her foibles.
When it comes to Bong Bong's parents, they become as strong a character as any other in the novel, their spirit omnipresent. It's remarkable that characters who appear so briefly seem to grow as the story does, and your feelings toward them shift as do Bong Bong's.
Perhaps the strongest relationship in the book is that between Bong Bong and 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. He becomes the boy's mirror, his sole source of support and comfort. And then he becomes a crutch Bong Bong simply can't let go of, because he cannot deal with someone else in his life disappearing.
Alumit dedicates his book "To those who have Disappeared." Loss is the driving theme of the novel, defines Bong Bong 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 that almost crosses into faith.
By books' end, Alumit has taken us on an affecting journey of sorrow and loss; yet the resonant hope creates a remarkably uplifting story of love, growth, survival and new beginnings.
Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable.
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