Michael’s Letter Essay #8: The Compound

I have been recently reading The Compound, a 256 paged book that takes the genre of fiction. The book was published by SA Bodeen. SA has written other books such as The Raft and The Garden. The Compound is #1 of a multi-book series. The novel was originally published in 2008.

Eli Yanakakis is not the average 9 year old. His family’s multi-billion dollar electronics corporation was a huge success. Eli “lived” in a large gated home in Seattle with his twin brother Eddy, sisters Therese and Lexie, and his parents. His Father, Rex Yanakakis is a very successful, “smart” and wealthy man who wanted the best for his family. Fearing a nuclear attack, Rex built a multi-million dollar elaborate Compound under ground for his family. During the night, the Yanakakis family was rushed into the compound under the impression of a nuclear attack. Being as careless as Rex turns out to be in the novel, he forgets one of his four children. After the door was locked it was just Eli, his parents and his sisters, leaving Eddy behind. The family was very solemn as they settled into the compound, with the help of their deranged father. Lexie and Therese found comfort in their personally designed rooms, but just the opposite with Eli. Eli missed his brother, his home and the social interactions with his friends. The compound was personally designed by Eli’s father Rex. Each family member had a room decorated with “objects” that pertain to their interests. Therese had interest in the oboe when her father brought one back from Paris for her. After many years of little to no social interaction Eli has become distressed when he finds out his father is planning on cloning children inside the compound to have a larger supply of meat for his family. Rex went through with his plans to clone three “supplement children” whos names were Cara, Lucas and Quinn. The family was very disturbed with his fathers un-religious acts and they decided to stop him. Rex had a hole in his scheme to lock his family in the compound. There was internet access outside of his dad’s office that was accessible to Eli. Eli quickly took advantage to his father’s mistake and tried to contact his long lost brother, Eddy. Eli swiftly found that his brother was ok, and there was no nuclear attack and that his family had been deceived for 6 years underground by a man who was suppose to help them. Eli tells his mother and sisters and they take extreme action to escape . . .

I choose to read The Compound since I read The Raft (Also written by SA Bodeen).

Quoted Passage:

Rex: “Don’t be naive, Eli. People will do anything to survive. Had people known about this place, there would have been crowds begging to get in. I couldn’t have that.”

Eli: “What about the shuttle driver? Wouldn’t he know how to get into here?”

Rex: “In the end, I know he would have been taken care of.” – Page 89.

I choose to include this quoted passage in my essay because of the wording. Even though this passage is rather short, it signifies the central theme of the novel that being, Eli and the Yanakakis family being deceived by the father, Rex. The line from Rex: “People will do anything to survive … ” shows Rex’s reasoning behind locking his family underground for numerous years.

This novel is similar to the short story “Lars Farf”. Both novels include fathers wanting the best for their families and taking extreme measures and actions to do so. I thought the author did a great job spreading out the novel. What I mean by that sentence is that it is not easy to spread a book out through 6/7 years, however, SA Bodeen did an excellent job at doing so while still making the book interesting to read. I personally didn’t like the “unrealistic” aspects of the book. With that said, it does fit quite well into the fiction genre.

I would recommend this book to anyone seeking an “on-edge book”. A lot happens at once in some points in the novel that make you want to keeping on reading. I would rate The Compound a 6/10.

– Michael Farnen (5/13/16)

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12 thoughts on “Michael’s Letter Essay #8: The Compound

  1. Michael,
    I really like how in depth and clear way you went into the book and showed how it is written, the plot, and details about the book without giving anything away. Though i have already read this book i may just read it again because i did really enjoy it. Great Job.
    -Ryan Hanock

  2. Dear Michael,
    Good job on your letter essay. I liked the way you included background information about the book. You clearly knew what you were talking about and you know a lot about this book. Also, I liked the way you compared the book back to Lars Farf. Good job.
    Sincerely,
    Will Grob

  3. Dear Michael,
    Good job on your letter essay. You clearly knew what you were talking about and you know a lot about this book. Also, I liked the way you compared the book back to Lars Farf. Good job.
    Sincerely,
    Will Grob

  4. Dear Michael,
    Good job on your letter essay. You clearly knew what you were talking about and you know a lot about this book. Also, I liked the way you compared the book back to Lars Farf. Good job.

    -Will Grob

  5. Dear Michel,
    I liked your letter essay. It was very descriptive and I liked how you gave enough information about the book without giving the entire thing awa
    From,
    Tiernan

  6. I liked the description but I have some recommendations. I think you should put things into smaller paragraphs because people like me don’t like reading that much, and even people that like reading it would catch there eye because it would be a nice looking piece. #ATTABOYKIERQUACK

  7. Michael,
    First Great Job. Wow hands down keep up the good effort. That was great I might have to rethink what I was gonna read for letter essay number 9. I love it man just the whole thing, very nice job. love the detail.
    Your boy,
    Alex

  8. Dear Micheal,

    I have also read compound but not for awhile. I like how in the beginning you say that Eli is a average 9 year old but right after state that his family owns a multi-billion dollar corperation. Overall I liked your letter essay a lot, you had all the necessary components and describe the book very well.

    Good job,

    Julio Calish

  9. Dear Micheal,

    I think you did well on your letter essay, but the publisher of the book and the Author can be 2 different people, it would be nice if you were to be more clear

  10. Dear Michael,
    Your writing piece was very elaborate and very well written. I enjoyed the small quoted passage that you added in to your writing, it really gave an inside look on the book,
    Sincerely,
    Caden S

  11. Dear Michael,
    Your letter essay was very detailed and descriptive. I enjoyed your quoted passage because that is a very important piece to your writing. I also read this book and thought it was very good.
    Tyler petrino

  12. Dear Michael,

    Your summary was really good, you gave the reader a lot of detail. I liked how you connected this book to Larfs Farf. Good job!

    -Kayleigh

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