What do you think?
Rate this book
Sailmaker
48 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
8 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Alan Spence
57 books33 followersAlan Spence (born 1947) is a Scottish writer and is Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Aberdeen, where he is also artistic director of the annual WORD Festival. He was born in Glasgow, and much of his work is set in the city.
Spence is an award-winning poet and playwright, novelist and short-story writer. His first work was the collection of short stories Its Colours They are Fine, first published in 1977. This was followed by two plays, Sailmaker in 1982 and Space Invaders in 1983. The novel The Magic Flute appeared in 1990 along with his first book of poetry, Glasgow Zen. In 1991, another of his plays, Changed Days, was published before a brief hiatus. He returned in 1996 with Stone Garden, another collection of short stories. In 2006, The Pure Land, a historical novel set in Japan, was published by Canongate Books, and is based on the life of Thomas Blake Glover who is immortalised in the story of Madame Butterfly.
Spence is an award-winning poet and playwright, novelist and short-story writer. His first work was the collection of short stories Its Colours They are Fine, first published in 1977. This was followed by two plays, Sailmaker in 1982 and Space Invaders in 1983. The novel The Magic Flute appeared in 1990 along with his first book of poetry, Glasgow Zen. In 1991, another of his plays, Changed Days, was published before a brief hiatus. He returned in 1996 with Stone Garden, another collection of short stories. In 2006, The Pure Land, a historical novel set in Japan, was published by Canongate Books, and is based on the life of Thomas Blake Glover who is immortalised in the story of Madame Butterfly.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 20, 2018
Read for a senior Nat 5 class.
From a teaching standpoint, it's an accessible way of getting kids to think about cultural contexts, gender, class, and local history too if they're from the west of Scotland. It takes some real-life knowledge to understand Davie and what happens to him, and as is typical of school texts set for this age, it's the beginning of understanding complexities which make life a struggle for many.
As a text, it's aggressive in its class analysis. Social mobility is next to non-existant even still, but back in the days of Davie and Alec, making that academic leap to university actually meant something. Davie's self-destruction comes from a lack of hope, while Alec's progress is fuelled by the promise of a way out. I think the reality is much more nuanced than this. Working class families get stuck in ruts, but the idea of coming to a cross-roads - of self-destruction and social mobility - is too on the nose. It's more inert than this, and more insidious too. The play hints at this, but it's relegated to the background in favour of the relationship between father and son.
Fair enough - you can fill the gaps in yourself, if you want to. Without them though, it feels a little entry-level, a little for-those-in-the-know. The abrasion is there, the conflict between what has been and what could be, but not the forces that force people into these situations. I just wanted a little more.
From a teaching standpoint, it's an accessible way of getting kids to think about cultural contexts, gender, class, and local history too if they're from the west of Scotland. It takes some real-life knowledge to understand Davie and what happens to him, and as is typical of school texts set for this age, it's the beginning of understanding complexities which make life a struggle for many.
As a text, it's aggressive in its class analysis. Social mobility is next to non-existant even still, but back in the days of Davie and Alec, making that academic leap to university actually meant something. Davie's self-destruction comes from a lack of hope, while Alec's progress is fuelled by the promise of a way out. I think the reality is much more nuanced than this. Working class families get stuck in ruts, but the idea of coming to a cross-roads - of self-destruction and social mobility - is too on the nose. It's more inert than this, and more insidious too. The play hints at this, but it's relegated to the background in favour of the relationship between father and son.
Fair enough - you can fill the gaps in yourself, if you want to. Without them though, it feels a little entry-level, a little for-those-in-the-know. The abrasion is there, the conflict between what has been and what could be, but not the forces that force people into these situations. I just wanted a little more.
January 30, 2025
It was fine
(Read at 14, bored as fuck, probably wont reread)
(Read at 14, bored as fuck, probably wont reread)
September 2, 2021
May be Scottish myself but some of those words went right over my head. Boring read moving on
February 16, 2025
i read it for my nat 5 english so i was obviously going to be bored no matter what we read since reading in a class setting is like that for me, however i loved a lot of the symbolism in it and the way david and alec’s relationship was portrayed was really good, yet it kinda lacked something. idk what, but i just felt like it was missing some kind of aspect in the story. maybe thats just because i read thrillers and horror
August 14, 2025
Read this for my NAT5
Starting this, I thought it was going to be some kind of boring book about boring 20 century topics, however the metaphors inside it and the sectarian stuff really had me going, so it was alright I guess
Starting this, I thought it was going to be some kind of boring book about boring 20 century topics, however the metaphors inside it and the sectarian stuff really had me going, so it was alright I guess
January 15, 2022
2.5 stars
May 12, 2023
Too many people just don't understand this text.
November 13, 2023
I am not Scottish.....I struggled
October 23, 2025
maybe 2 ½
December 2, 2025
Abolish immediately
October 18, 2019
Possibly the worst book I've read the full way through. The writing is sub-par and there is no real climax. The characters are impossible to relate to and completely unlikeable and unrealistic so there is no real sense of accomplishment throughout the story.
Things in this book just kinda happen for no real reason.
Things in this book just kinda happen for no real reason.
September 5, 2015
It was a good play to study and read in english class. Easy to follow and interesting enough to want to keep reading all the way through.
September 23, 2019
absolutely terrible, if i could rate it no star i would
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews