Jonathan Stroud, Simple Yet Genius: Journal Entry

The following is a revised version of a journal entry I made on 11-30-23.

Now, I don't claim to know much about Stroud. In fact, I've only just finished listening to The Amulet of Samarkand today. Now, while I have technically been exposed to/have listened to The Bartimaeus Sequence, I would consider this my first cognitive exposure to Stroud's writing. So, with that being said, I really enjoyed the series' first book.

Naturally, after finishing the book today, I chose to research Stroud a little and found that he was also the creator of the Lockwood & Co. series. It's a series I've been aware of for quite some time, but I have never gone further than that. But, during my research, I had gathered the plot of the Lockwood series and realized the theoretical formula Stroud has used for his books. While world-building, I'd imagine he thinks of something within the confines of the fantasy genre and asks himself, "What if this were normal within the real world?" Again, I can't say for sure how accurate this is because of my limited experience with his writing, but that honestly doesn't matter. Perception creates personal truth, and within personal truth, genuine truth can be found.

But, I don't like to speak as if something is true if I have no knowledge to base it on. So, at least with the book I've read, The Amulet of Samarkand, I can see that this theory of mine reigns true. And if you're reading this and saying, "Well, you could just search an interview of Stroud saying this exact thing," then I've got two things to say to you: reading him say it is less impressive than coming to these conclusions alone, and I have not done that much research on this author who I have only just become acquainted with. I had not had the idea to look up who he was until I had finished the book, but once I was hit with the profundity of the end of the story, I decided I must know who he was. But I digress; I can tell that explicitly or not, the "what if" question was his process of creating Bartimeaus's world. And that brings me to two conclusions: I could use this formula myself, not steal it (mainly because the "what if" question was not created by Stroud or is inherently unique), but instead try to learn from how Stroud used it to boost my writing ability. Second, I have realized that Stroud's writing is what actually makes this formula effective. Stroud is Clever. His writing isn't inherently complex, but his advanced understanding of literature creates an encapsulating and intelligent story. And that is something I would really love to touch on. The intelligence of The Amulet of Samarkand is both literal and abstract. His word choice is what I would describe as literally intelligent, but at the same time, that creates a sense of intelligence within the characters. It truly captures the idea of high society Britain, which is indirectly what the story is about. But this is not a book review, so unless I were to do one, I will leave it there.

Needless to say, I will most likely be consuming much more of his works and hopefully learn from them. His words are inspiring, so I hope reading more of what he writes can help me learn some of the clever tactics that make him an effective author.