Listen to he Silence By David W. Elliott

This book is 40 years old. Its pages are yellowed with the distinct smell of must, old glue and a hint of mold. It was a rescue from the Goodwill bargain bin where it had set for who knows how long and, probably, would have set until Ragnarok had my wife not picked it up. This is also the saddest book I have ever read.

It centers around Timmy, a 14 year old boy. Timmy's "different". So much so that he has been to countless foster homes; adopted and un-adopted and finally dumped at a state mental institution. The book follows the boy's life while at the facility.

It is evident from the first page that he doesn't qualify as a "normal" boy. It's written in first person and we follow his thoughts from beautifully poetic one minute to absurd and chaotic the next. Ten pages in and I had more empathy for this character than I have for most 150 pages into a novel.

Listen to the Silence is an unrelenting, unforgiving book that takes us into the dark, depraved depths of the mental hospitals of the time and the despair that some of the inmates felt.

Silence leaves us with very little since of hope even as the end draws near. I walked away from these pages feeling haunted, disturbed and saddened for the boy, for the other inmates and for humanity in general.

A short book, a quick read but one that is tough to walk away from. It will haunt the reader long after it's been shelved.