The Beautiful Story of Under a Painted Sky
Stacy Lee does a great job of getting
readers to sympathize with her characters, which leads to greater investment in
the story. She provides meaningful backstory for all the main characters, which
allows readers to understand their thinking and actions. Lee gives a lot of
information about Samantha, such as her passions and beliefs. Samantha is shown
to love playing violin, and it is clear that music has been a huge part of her
life. Her passion for music influences her choices later on in the book, when
she decides she wants to open up a music conservatory. Samantha also believes
in Chinese lunar signs, which appear very often in the story. She constantly
links events that occur to these symbols, showing readers how she views the
world.
Lee also provides Annamae’s backstory,
which, like Samantha’s, clues readers in on the reasons behind her actions. The
runaway slave was taken from her family, including her two brothers, whom she
cared about very much. This later explains a few of her actions, including a
critical decision that affects the outcome of the story. Her love for her
brothers clearly shows when she talks about them, something she does quite
often. Because of the information Lee provided about Annamae, readers are able
to empathize with her and understand how she is feeling.
Another way Lee gets readers to
empathize with her characters is by creating a scene in which the main
character is harmed. In the first chapter, Samantha’s dry goods store burns
down, which ends up killing her father. He was the only family she had left, as
her mother died while giving birth to her. The landlord then offers her a place
to stay, but later tries to force her into becoming one of his prostitutes and
attempts to rape her. Because readers witness these tragic events which
Samantha was a victim of, they are on her side from chapter one.
Stacey Lee does a spectacular job of
prompting readers to care about, sympathize, and empathize with her main
characters. Lee provides the backstories of her characters and creates touching
scenes that gets readers on their side. While her story is very moving and
caused a few shed tears, there are moments when I could not stop laughing. This
element of humor provides a break from the somber tone of the book and makes it
a lot more fun to read. Under a Painted Sky is a beautiful
story of friendship, perseverance, and loss that readers will be unable to put
down.
-Emily Chen
I really liked reading your blog post and this sounds like a very good book. I liked the ways that you described the book in detail and really painted a picture of what the story is like, without spoiling what happens in the book. I would suggest maybe including some in text quotes from the book to show the style of the book.
ReplyDeleteI liked the examples from the story that you gave because they helped me understand ways the reader could become attached to the main character. I also liked how you gave us insight on how the backstory impacted the story, by giving some backstory on the character in the blog. This book sounds really interesting and I'll have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great blog to read! I enjoyed how you elaborated greatly on the characters in this book and the events that take place throughout, whilst not spoiling it at the same time. This book explores mature themes yet I think you did a great job explaining how and why these events occur. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis blog was really well organized and you did a could job explaining the story without not giving away spoilers. I liked how you explained the overall tone of the book, for example when you mentioned the book made you laugh, but also made you feel for the characters. You also did a well describing the book in the first paragraph. I will check this book out sometime.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explain that what happens to a character is an important part of enjoying a novel. In my opinion, harming the main character will normally cause people to become interested because they want to make sure that the character is safe at the end of the story. I also think you explained well and made insightful points through well-written ideas (e.g., explaining how readers will commiserate/sympathize with characters).
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