Final Book Blog on "Ptolemy's Gate"

Comment on the perspective from which the book is told and how the
author’s choice affects your relationship with the book’s content.

Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

I think that this question is very fitting for "Ptolemy's Gate" because the book takes a different route than most others. This story is told from 3 different perspectives, alternating with each chapter. They are the stories of Nathaniel the Wizard, Kitty the Rebel, and Bartimaeus the demon. Each of these stories intertwine with one another, including Nathaniel's control over Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty's rivalry, and the uncommon alliance between Kitty and Bartimaeus.
This format does a really good job of pulling me into the content. Each perspective is always told from the first person, which really made me feel like I was more involved with the events of the book, almost as if a friend was telling me a story. Some lines just wouldn't work without this perspective, such as when Bartimeaus says "I did a quick fly by the nearest few, but the secretary was not aboard (pg 110)." I think that the writing style choice did a good job making me feel like I was flying past a few double-decker buses.
Lastly, there was one smaller perspective, with which the backstory was told. In all of Bartimaeus' chapters, many of the references to previous stories or folklore within the book's universe are told as footnotes. These little notes are both very helpful and amusing, and are again told from the first person view of Bartimaeus. I found that these notes did a good job of pulling me into this demon's world even more.
Overall, the choice to tell the story from different perspectives is one very strange to me, but Johnathan Stroud was very effective using it.