The Road from Coorain | 
 enlarge | Author: Jill Ker Conway
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 122704
Media: Paperback
Edition: First Vantage Book sEdition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0679724362
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.40994092
EAN: 9780679724360
ASIN: 0679724362
Publication Date: August 11, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Very good condition, wear from reading. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged but may have spine creases from reading.
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Book Description
From the shelter of a protective family, to the lessons of tragedy and independence, this is an indelible portrait of a harsh and beautiful country and the inspiring story of a remarkable woman's life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 An autobiography of a shy girl from a faraway place... November 7, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Not very interesting.
There's not much else I can say. Everybody has a story, including author Jill Conway. Her life began in western New South Wales, Australia:
"My father was elated as he surveyed the realization of his dream to own land and to raise his own flocks of sheep and cattle. For my mother, not born to the bush, my father's long-dreamed-of property was a nightmare of desolation" (p. 18).
Conway describes her memories growing up on a 32,000 acre station they called Coorain. She learned from watching the land and its processes:
"Why did God allow the crows to pick out the eyes of newborn lambs, I asked [my father], as we passed a bloody carcass?" (p. 82).
Alas, her father drowned in a stock pond, the drought wrought hardship, and her older brother died in a car accident. But Conway's interactions with other schoolchildren at boarding school was problematic:
"There was more than my appearance to worry about. My family and school friends agreed that I was 'brainy'" (p. 146).
"My appearance didn't give me many opportunities to be bored by young men" (p. 145).
"The causes of my shyness were complex. I didn't look right and couldn't blend with the crowd" (p. 156).
As you can see, there was constant, constant reference to how she didn't fit in, and that she was considered by many to be "too intellectual." When she applied for a post with the Australian Department of External Affairs (their state department), her male friends got positions and she didn't. "It was all prejudice, blind prejudice. For the first time, I felt kinship with black people" (p. 191). Awkwardly, her interactions with the native people of Australia were obvious by their absence in her story. So life is fairly good until a socially awkward and "intellectual" person doesn't get a position with the state department, which causes the development of a kinship with the native peoples.
What?
This was a hard book to read. The first chapter was a long diatribe of landscape conditions in western New South Wales. Then there was a third of the book on life on a cattle station. Then there was the rest of the book, on life as an adolescent, traveling with her mother to other countries, and applying to graduate school in history in America.
This really read as a book of very selective memories. Granted, they are Conway's memories, and she owns them. They are just not very... enlightening and illuminating.
'Nuff said.
Mostly boring October 18, 2007
Jill Ker was born in 1934 in the west of New South Wales, Australia.She grew up on a sheep ranch.She had her share of troubles: her father drowned, possibly it was a suicide, when she was 11. At age 14 her charismatic elder brother died in a car crash. In her 20s her mother began to lose her mental balance. Jill studied history at the University of Sydney and at 25 went to Harvard.Her childhood on a sheep station has some interest, but the details of her unremarkable academic studies are tedious.She comes across as an introverted person who found it difficult to make friends.She had little fun in life: no jolly japes, no humorous anecdotes.Her self-centeredness and lack of humor make for dull reading.
An Australian Journey October 7, 2007
This beautiful book tells the story of one girl's childhood on an isolated sheep farm in Australia; that girl would eventually end up as the first woman president of Smith College, one of the finest universities in the United States (part of the Seven Sisters). Before that, she studied at the University of Sydney, moving on to Harvard University in the States. Much like the movie, "My Brilliant Career," the story follows the harsh living conditions of her youth and her meteoric rise to success.
The part of the story that will speak to you most clearly, however, is that of the young girl with golden dreams who faces so much adversity and such little chance of escaping her isolating circumstances. Her father owned 30,000 arid acres in Australia and when the land succumbed to drought, he committed suicide; shortly thereafter, her brother was in an auto accident that resulted in his death. Faced with these tragedies, Conway's mother was overcome with depression and unable to help her daughter succeed. That Jill Ker Conway lets none of that prevent her from reaching a pinnacle of success that no one in her family or community in Australia could ever have imagined for her is the stuff of dreams.
 enjoyable read February 11, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The wonderful autobiography entitled, The Road From Coorain, written by Jill Ker Conway is a must-read! Her engaging and rich detail gives an enchanting description of the Australian life-style from a very unique perspective.
Beginning in the 1930's, young Jill Ker lived with her tightly-knit family on a ranch called Coorain, Australia. Isolated in the desert and located far from Sydney, Coorain, has created an unordinary life-style for not only Jill but for her two brothers, Barry and Bob. Maintaining the remote Coorain is the family's only way to ensure stability and in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Ker; the significance of Coorain is considered more important than a formal education. Though, when the dreadful droughts of the arid terrain continue to spontaneously appear, life becomes awfully challenging and difficult for the Ker family. Suffering from famine because of the lack of crops and animals, Coorain becomes involved in a downward spiral. As a result, Jill as well as other family members, encounter the enormous struggle of overcoming the concept of death and sorrow. As Jill grows into a young woman, she faces unfortunate events that set her back, creating various obstacles as she journeys down the unpredictable road of life. Faced with challenges romantically, intellectually, and within the family ultimately affects her career and talents, though somehow Jill miraculously manages to succeed.
Choosing an academic career as a historian, Jill faced the constant struggle of chauvinism living as a young woman during the 1950's. Her passion and remarkable academic achievements clearly demonstrated her natural talent as a student. Unfortunately, the unfair privileges men had in contrast to women was a constant obstacle. Jill had potential and unlike some other women, had the possibility of attaining her high hopes and dreams. Her brilliance and intellectual capability distinguished her as an individual, though she was unfortunately not recognized with equality because she was woman. "But I received a blandly courteous letter thanking me for my interest. I was dumfounded. Milton and I had ranked first in our class and were to be awarded the University Medal jointly for our academic achievements. I could scarcely believe that my refusal was because I was a woman...I knew I was no more and no less intellectually aggressive than Milton and Rob. That left my sex and my appearance." Though Jill Ker faced multiple obstacles throughout her life, she clearly proves that hard work and perseverance is a powerful way to achieve one's goals.
This engaging autobiography is filled with compelling and descriptive prose. Beautifully written, Mrs. Conway eloquently yet succinctly expresses the many conflicts one can be presented in life. Given her natural gravitation towards the subject of history, she enlightens the reader with interesting historical backgrounds of the many places she has traveled. Her simplistic, yet thought-provoking perspectives maintain one's fascination throughout the course of the book. Every moment I spend reading it was enjoyable. Mrs. Conway's, informative yet concise style of writing kept me actively involved. Her marvelously written descriptions, gave me an excellent understanding of the rural Australian life-style: "On the western side the mountains' gentler hills sloped down to rolling countryside; valleys covered with rich black soil sheltered streams winding westward. The gentle slopes rising from each watercourse were crowned with orchards in blossom, while below the contoured patterns of spring crops burst in brilliant green from the dark earth. I liked looking at this scenery with the dew still on it, well before the heat of the day." This autobiography filled with endless drama, love, and the hardships of life, is a definite must-read!
no title November 19, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I related to and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Conway's descriptions of Australia are beautiful. She has written a follow-up book which I would like to read also. And on second reading, I feel more and more that perhaps her mother had some chemical imbalance, because she changed so drastically. Either that, or her repressed emotions after the deaths of her husband and her oldest son in the space of five years, led her to the bitter old woman she became.
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