Review: Loved It
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
The novel Lovely Flawed is an oxymoron. Author Brian Barton uses this literary device throughout the entire book from the title to the `happily ever after' ending. Seeing the words `Lovely' and `Flawed' beside each other makes any reader do a double-take and that's just what Barton wants. He uses this novel to explore the different colours and layers of personalities and the relationships that they are attracted to.Lovely isn't perfection...it is pleasing, attractive, and exquisitely beautiful.  This is the primary theme of the novel and the main character Li Hua represents this.  As she narrates the story in the first person, she opens her world to the reader who gets to share her perspective; to experience her life; and to listen to the on-going conversations she has with herself. "Looking in the mirror... I see myself and the person I really am ...I look away from the mirror and try to push away the pain." The reader immediately realizes that Li Hua is a complex character with several layers of addictions and contradictions; and stays to celebrate with her as she weathers the harsh realities of life and accepts herself as lovely.The setting of the novel is the sleepless city of New York and the context is music...primarily classical music.  It is through the New York City lifestyle and music that the reader gets to understand Li Hua and the situation in which she finds herself.  Music drives the emotions, lusts and passions of all the characters.  They eat, sleep and breathe music...it is their life. "The soul of a classical musician is complex...Good players need both ego and emotion.  Without them, there's no performance." It is therefore, no wonder that music speaks to Li Hua in a way that words cannot.  It is through music that she connects with the person with whom she shares a kinship spirit: her teacher, her mentor, her soul mate? "I can't believe how intimate the music is.  He's sharing everything with me and I can feel his thoughts, his vulnerabilities."Barton scores with the story. He could have used a little less of the bar scenes however, because it almost seems repetitive.Overall,  there are lots that the reader can take away from this story, the differences between the Eastern and Western cultures being one of them - Li Hua's Taiwanese background adds a rich, ethnic touch to the story.