Sailmaker Plus

by Alan Spence, Jane Cooper (Editor)

Sailmaker Plus offers the full text of the widely popular drama text, Sailmaker, by award-winning writer Alan Spence - plus an introduction by the author outlining his motives in writing it, and a wide range of background material by Jane Cooper.

Genres: Drama

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alan 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.

Reviews

[Lorraine]

Not for me. Just read to help with Nat 5 work. Didn’t rate as not fair as didn’t pick this and not aimed at me.

[Ryan O'Pray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Core curriculum text in Scottish schools at certificate level for many years. The reasons are obvious: it could almost be used as a cut and paste activity book for kids to show off basic knowledge of literary features.

Characters are cardboard cutouts related to the man versus society narrative of the author’s time. Each remains tethered to societal norms through language and behaviour; this is a bleak play that really says more by what it doesn’t say, indeed, the most interesting character for me has always been the mother.

[Zoe MacIver · Rating 2 out of 5]

READ FOR SCHOOL

Nothing happens in the book!

[Sseonana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Might be a play that's better watched than read. But maybe not.

[Ganna · Rating 1 out of 5]

to my core, I am a hater. I despise this play xxx

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Davie is a middle-aged widower. Alec is his son who is trying to find his way in life. Set in Glasgow in the 1960s, the play draws on the playwright's own working-class background to provide a realistic snapshot of human relationships overshadowed by grief and difficulty.

I bought this play because a pupil I'm tutoring is studying it. I wasn't expecting to like it; I thought I would struggle with the dialect, not relate to the characters, and find the subject matter boring. However, I ended up enjoying it. Spence's writing is to-the-point and the story moves along quickly with just enough detail to keep readers interested. The additional notes have given me some inspiration for my tutoring sessions although they are not as relevant to the school exams as they presumably once were.

[megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic enough story to be further highlighted with symbolism to add more depth into the story and the father/son relationship in the book. I remember the church scene which I didn’t quite get, but I am thankful that the relationship of the two men was easy enough to understand for my exam

[Coco Ramponi · Rating 1 out of 5]

studying books in school normally made me enjoy the story more, as I could properly analyse and learn. this one? not so much, I did learn what a glory hole was though (not the kind you might first think of).

[Kayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first act was alright, but I wasn't all that into it. I only really appreciated the first act when I was reading the second act and the symbolism and the parallels to the first act became more obvious. It was alright for something I was assigned to read for a class

[ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up. was pondering teaching this for nat5, but after reading i'm less sure. yes, its themes are simple to grasp but by god it's boring.

[Eve D · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was supposed to be a sentimental and thought-provoking play about a youngster in 1960's Glasgow, Sailmaker has tried its best, but sadly, it has done anything but that. The play itself holds a certain meaning to the author, I'm sure, but it failed in bringing any interest to the 700 pupils in my school who have read this play. When a teen say 'nothing happens in it', normally you'd say read it again, but honestly, on this occasion, nothing actually does happen. Sure you can analyse the themes, plot and characters as such, which overall did okay... but just okay. As a piece to study I would not recommend this. Whatever the school board was thinking when they gave this book to students to read I cannot even bare to imagine. It's just plain boring. Sorry.

The goal nowadays should be to make the youth want to read, this just makes me want to burn it, much like the yacht Alec burns in the end. (SPOILER). A book about a yacht, y'ought to not read it!