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Karma
Tim's dad taught him always to be tough and never let anything show, never even to feel anything. At fifteen, he's pretty good at not caring about himself or what happens to him, which is probably a good thing, now that he's been sent to The Ranch with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents. He already didn't get along with anyone and everyone seems to want to punch him all the time, so he doesn't figure he'll last long at the Ranch. It seems like the natural end to his meaningless life, especially after he meets his crazy new roommates. Tim doesn't understand why his life went the way it did, or why he was even born. There's no fixing Tim, even though the guy in charge is determined to try. Apparently he doesn't know a lost cause when he sees one.
499 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 5, 2018
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December 5, 2023
This gut-wrenchingly beautiful billings roman from visionary December Nolan is the coming of age story you never read. It is about the type of people who fall through the cracks, and the things most people prefer not to think about. It’s a clear-eyed observation and delineation rather than a condemnation—entertaining, matter-of-fact, and heartbreaking. The reader comes to love the most immediately despicable characters, to question automatic love for the most seemingly admirable ones, and to understand exactly how they all got from Point A to a really, really messed up Point B.
I say “messed up”, but Nolan doesn’t judge her characters or what they’ve done to land them at The Ranch, an alternative to jail for juvenile delinquents where the boys live in small cabins the “inmates” have built themselves. They grow and cook their own food, make their own clothes, and perform all the farm chores. Ron is their pragmatic, stalwart guardian whose strict, no-nonsense policies are tempered by his warm heart.
When he arrives at The Ranch, our hero Tim has no idea what to do with warmth or compassion. He has no concept of self-worth, no social skills, no ambition—indeed, no real will to live. It seems at first that The Ranch is the last place he’ll find any of those things, and that the pair of brothers assigned as his roommates would be the last people he’d gain them from. Ben and Tristan are strange, and Ben does nothing to endear himself—to anyone, ever, as far as Tim can tell. But what Nolan explores, in a fascinating setting, is how you never know who might turn out to be “your people,” nor what it might take to find yourself.
I truly feel that Karma (a title derived from the nickname Tim earns at The Ranch) could change the world. Although it does not “instruct,” it offers serious, well-reasoned insights into very painful subjects that afflict modern society. Nolan explores the ways of thinking, in young people and in the parents who raised them, that lead to juvenile criminality. With an eye to the spiritual and psychological, she deftly leads both her characters and her readers down paths of understanding and acceptance, without flinching from any of the harsh realities of these teens’ lives.
Everything from the cover (created by a character in the book!) to the incredibly moving last scene is a delicate, crystalline-perfect balance of everything I want from modern fiction. Complex characters, humor, and a thrilling story that is by turns heartrending and uplifting puts this novel in my all-time top 10. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I say “messed up”, but Nolan doesn’t judge her characters or what they’ve done to land them at The Ranch, an alternative to jail for juvenile delinquents where the boys live in small cabins the “inmates” have built themselves. They grow and cook their own food, make their own clothes, and perform all the farm chores. Ron is their pragmatic, stalwart guardian whose strict, no-nonsense policies are tempered by his warm heart.
When he arrives at The Ranch, our hero Tim has no idea what to do with warmth or compassion. He has no concept of self-worth, no social skills, no ambition—indeed, no real will to live. It seems at first that The Ranch is the last place he’ll find any of those things, and that the pair of brothers assigned as his roommates would be the last people he’d gain them from. Ben and Tristan are strange, and Ben does nothing to endear himself—to anyone, ever, as far as Tim can tell. But what Nolan explores, in a fascinating setting, is how you never know who might turn out to be “your people,” nor what it might take to find yourself.
I truly feel that Karma (a title derived from the nickname Tim earns at The Ranch) could change the world. Although it does not “instruct,” it offers serious, well-reasoned insights into very painful subjects that afflict modern society. Nolan explores the ways of thinking, in young people and in the parents who raised them, that lead to juvenile criminality. With an eye to the spiritual and psychological, she deftly leads both her characters and her readers down paths of understanding and acceptance, without flinching from any of the harsh realities of these teens’ lives.
Everything from the cover (created by a character in the book!) to the incredibly moving last scene is a delicate, crystalline-perfect balance of everything I want from modern fiction. Complex characters, humor, and a thrilling story that is by turns heartrending and uplifting puts this novel in my all-time top 10. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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