John Burnside

In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great built a palace which he filled with newborns, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or aquired. As the children grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilities inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbars investigations. The unnamed narrator creates a twisted variant of the Dumb House. When the children develop a musical language of their own, excluding their jailer, he extracts an appalling revenge.

Dumb House

Alesha ponomarenko

Very dark and clever, original concept and storyline 

In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great once built a palace which he filled with newborn children, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or aquired. As the year passed and the chidren grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilites inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbar`s investigations. Following the death of his mother, the unnamed narrator creates a twisted varient of the Dumb House, finally using his own chidren as subjects in a bizarre experiment. When the children develop a musical language of their own, however, their gaoler is the one who is excluded, and he extracts an appalling revenge.

A Chamber Novel

The Dumb House

Jade Flynn

Intrigued me with an interesting premise and an abundance of praise from reviews but for me it flat-lined about 30 pages in and never resuscitated itself. I didn't find it creepy, the language despite a smattering of above average written paragraphs was mediocre at best. Read like a script for a Criminal Minds episode. It was a good idea that ultimately disappointed me.

Jordan Robinson

I don't know how to sum up how I feel about this book. On one hand, I loved it, the writing it beautiful, Burnsides characterization of the protagonist sociopath turned physchopath is very well executed, the overall plot was entertaining and engrossing. 
And on the otherhand I can't bring myself to give it 5 stars because after finishing it, I felt nothing. It was memorable yet I feel no attachment to any of it. 

Would definitely reccomend to anyone interested in the human psyche.

Dumb House

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