The World of Extreme Happiness (Methuen Modern Plays (Includes Methuem Drama)) by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig


The World of Extreme Happiness (Methuen Modern Plays (Includes Methuem Drama))
Title : The World of Extreme Happiness (Methuen Modern Plays (Includes Methuem Drama))
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 147252988X
ISBN-10 : 9781472529886
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 106
Publication : First published September 23, 2013

When Sunny is born in rural China, her parents leave her in a slop bucket to die because she's a girl. She survives, and at 14 leaves for the city, where she works a low-paying factory job and attends self-help classes to improve her chances at securing a coveted office position. When Sunny's attempts to pull herself out of poverty lead to dire consequences for a fellow worker, she is forced to question the system she's spent her life trying to master - and stand up against the powers that be. Savage, tragic and desperately funny, "The World of Extreme Happiness" is a stirring examination of a country in the midst of rapid change, and individuals struggling to shape their own destinies.

The World of Extreme Happiness (Methuen Modern Plays (Includes Methuem Drama)) Reviews

  • Liss

    It was such an interesting and honest story, from the moment I opened it to the moment I closed it; I was hooked. The end was slightly disappointing, in a bittersweet sort of way, but overall a fantastic read!

  • Sarah

    I liked this! It suffered a little from being required reading for one of my English papers, but I still liked and engaged with it more than I thought I would. This play is about a lot of things, but to put it simply, it's about a young girl named Sunny who is born in rural China in a time of great political turmoil and unrest. Against all odds (and in spite of her gender, perceived to be inferior by Chinese culture), Sunny moves to the big city to work in a factory, where her ambitions -- financial stability, success, and an ultimate escape from poverty -- motivate her to climb the social ladder "By Any Means Necessary". There were places where I thought the main themes of the play -- gender, class, and capitalism -- became a little garbled, and the political jargon in the afterword was condescendingly difficult, but on the whole, I thought the play was an excellently educational, albeit unflinchingly graphic, commentary on China's class values, globalisation, and Western capitalism and consumerism.

  • Meb

    I read this at an internship before the play was published - and I'm so happy to see it's finally available to buy. This play is amazing and genuinely has a voice unlike any other. It's horrifying and funny - and you can't get it out of your mind. It seems to capture the utter absurdity of China's economic system and bitter exploitation of its impoverished workers and how insane the promise of perfect & "extreme happiness" is when all evidence points to the contrary. I would put this play in the tier of works like 1984, if 1984 were bitterly funny and deeply, deeply real.