Jeremiah's Journey

Jeremiah’s Journey leads J. C. Merryweather into a naïve and increasingly disturbing search for a well-grounded but practical basis for living. How is a person to live a sensible, sensitive, and meaningful life in contemporary England? This question becomes acute for him shortly after his 30th birthday when his parents are killed in a motorway accident. Shortly after this, he decides to adopt a peculiarly rational approach to living, based on a four- pronged strategy. The first is to maintain the array of pleasures he has always found in observing the natural world. The second is to train as a plumber/electrician. The third is to explore what authorities make available to the public about a succession of life-relevant topics including diet, health care, and financial matters. The fourth is to develop and train his mind so that he can think and act intelligently and responsibly. Increasing competence with the fourth prong raises critical doubts about his original faith in the results which the third has presented to him. Jeremiah’s progress is further frustrated and hindered by a series of undermining incidents, whose cumulative effect erodes his personal identity to near destruction. His solution…? Jeremiah’s Journey is a work of pretending literary faction inspired by such writings as those of Gorky, Orwell, Heller, and the lighter works of Kafka. Its messages should appeal to all those whose lives are likely to be blighted by experiences suitable to Jeremiah’s.