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40th out of 863 books
—
1,241 voters
The Road from Coorain
Jill Ker Conway is a noted historian, specializing in the experience of women in America, and was the first woman president of Smith College.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
August 11th 1990
by Vintage
(first published 1989)
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Feb 26, 2013
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
The Ultimate Reading List
This is the memoir of a woman who grew up on an Australian sheep farm and would go on to become the first woman president of Smith College. I started this book expecting to read a story about the Australian outback and got that--and a lot more. Yes, the picture of growing up on a isolated sheep "station" in the forties was certainly interesting. Conway starts with the landscape, giving a picture of the flat and vast vistas, the endless periodic droughts in the arid, ecologically fragile land and...more
Excellent memoir of the outback childhood and Sydney schooling of a woman who became noted as a historian, feminist, and President of Smith College.
The first third about Conway's pre-teen years on an 18,000 acre sheep farm in remote New South Wales in the 30's was most satisfying to me for its vibrant evocation of the beauties and struggles of rural family life. The isolation of their ranch encouraged self reliance, and when her brothers were sent off to school, she came to work closely with he...more
The first third about Conway's pre-teen years on an 18,000 acre sheep farm in remote New South Wales in the 30's was most satisfying to me for its vibrant evocation of the beauties and struggles of rural family life. The isolation of their ranch encouraged self reliance, and when her brothers were sent off to school, she came to work closely with he...more
Solid memoir on growing up in 40s Australia, first in the Outback on a sheep farm that nearly collapses due to a long drought, then in Sydney as she tries to adjust to life a smart, pretty woman in a very chauvinistic academi world. She loses some important people way too early, and her mom begins to lose her grip on reality.
I enjoyed the book and it was well written. I definitely liked it better when it was in Coorain, the sheep farm her parents bought and settled about 10 hours west of Sydney....more
I enjoyed the book and it was well written. I definitely liked it better when it was in Coorain, the sheep farm her parents bought and settled about 10 hours west of Sydney....more
"Recollections of a harsh and beautiful journey into adulthood..."
I remember this autobiography for the decription of Australia. Jill is born to parents who have pioneered a sheep station. They struggle against the seasons and lonliness. Hill is home schooled. Her brothers left for boarding school and WWII. She had to be a "hand." When her father was killed in a stocktank ,her Mother had to admit failure -- so they moved to the city with disasterous results.
Australian women and men were suppose...more
I remember this autobiography for the decription of Australia. Jill is born to parents who have pioneered a sheep station. They struggle against the seasons and lonliness. Hill is home schooled. Her brothers left for boarding school and WWII. She had to be a "hand." When her father was killed in a stocktank ,her Mother had to admit failure -- so they moved to the city with disasterous results.
Australian women and men were suppose...more
I read this for my book club. I enjoyed it a lot. This book is based on the first 3rd of Jill Ker Conway's life, from growing up on the outback to leaving to study in the US. Eventually Ms Conway becomes president of Smith College. This is a good example of the difficulties many women have encountered on the road to success. Obstacles are around every corner, not only in the university setting but at home as well. Also, it reminded me of Dust Tracks on a Road, the Zora Neale Hurston autobiograph...more
A biography of the early years in Australia of Jill Ker Conway, a smart young woman raised on a sheep farm in the desolate, unpopulated outback of Australia then educated at private school in Sydney and, later, at the University of Sydney. A careful observation of her family as they deal with the hardships of farming and the climate of Australia, and of the difficulties of a woman pursuing an education and a career in the middle of the 20th Century. Well and carefully written, interesting and di...more
Coorain is a sheep station in New South Wales, Australia. Growing up in such an isolated place, Jill Ker paints a picture which is.honest and written with passion as she struggles to find out who she is and what her purpose in life is. Saddled with the early loss of her father and the demands of an overly needy mother, Jill eventually carves out her own place in the world. Her first opportunity to discover her true intellectual gifts comes when the family moves to Sydney and she is enrolled In a...more
This is Jill Conway’s autobiography covering her Australian youth to her age 25 in 1959 when she left for graduate school at Harvard (and ultimately a Ph.D. in history and following that a 10-year stint as President of Smith College). Growing up in the bush (outback) about 500 miles from Sydney on a sheep ranch she was an avid reader. What books she has read makes one’s own list an embarrassment. The first half of the book intertwines drought and economic despair as well as intellectual growth....more
1 like · like · see review
I loved this book because of the writing, and since I didn't read the jacket, I had no idea who the author was at first. I was reading it in the same way I read My Brilliant Career, to which it has been compared. Aside from the setting in Australia, I found a resonance between the two books, which aside from the setting are both about intelligent women in a society which does not approve of that combination. Another thing that struck me was how the author's perspective on her mother shifts-in th...more
The Road from Coorain is an memoir written by Jill Ker Conway detailing her life as a child on the outback of Australia moving to the city. Her young life has numerous obstacles, from droughts to family tragedies. The author had led a fascinating life; I learned much about living in the outback - raising sheep and obtaining one's resources independently - and her story of growing up as a strong, intellectual woman in a chauvinistic age powerful.
The memoir is well written; as a memoir, it appears...more
The memoir is well written; as a memoir, it appears...more
The Road from Coorain is a heart touching memoir that sweeps you away to places that some could only imagine. Jill Ker Conway writes her life story in such a way that really captures everyone and every memory. Every aspect of her childhood, down to the smell of the flowers at her countryside house, is described in a beautiful organized way.
From the beginning you are thrust into countryside Australia, where the people out there hardly ever see other human beings. Where cattle is scarce but sheep...more
From the beginning you are thrust into countryside Australia, where the people out there hardly ever see other human beings. Where cattle is scarce but sheep...more
I am reviwing this book now because I just came across it on another list and it bought back to mind a wonderful experience that I was blessed to have.... This book set in motion a whole series of events that meant I was able to visit the original homestead. It is a stunning story of fortitude, perseverance and an ability to get the best out a really harsh reality.
This book was recommended to me by my Brother (he lives in New York). I was reading it on a camping/tramping holiday in the South Is...more
This book was recommended to me by my Brother (he lives in New York). I was reading it on a camping/tramping holiday in the South Is...more
In Road From Coorain, we see how the author's early life on a sheep farm in the harsh Australian outback shaped her later years. I liked how the author spends the book recognizing the problems in a society which emulates the British empire at a cost to the aboriginal Australian culture. One moment in particular I found humorous, where the author describes the school uniform of wool dress, jackets and gloves makes no sense in the hot Australian environment, but was required because it is the unif...more
I spent a while this weekend reading The Road from Coorain, a memoir popular about fifteen years ago that I'd found around the office. In it, Jill Ker Conway, an academic and the first female president of Smith College, tells the story of her youth and education in Australia up to the day she left for America at age 26.
The first third of the book, in which she describes her life on a sheep ranch in a remote part of New South Wales, is what makes this book worthwhile. Conway never knew a child ot...more
The first third of the book, in which she describes her life on a sheep ranch in a remote part of New South Wales, is what makes this book worthwhile. Conway never knew a child ot...more
Linc's mom died last year. Many of her books came to us. I never gave it a thought that upon my death books would be associated with my life well lived, but they will be. This is a gem.
This book is about AU, I have friends there, been there. USA & AU have a great deal in common. We are both "new world." Plants and animals have been introduced to our land by home sick Europeans- often a negative for our new world. AU seems to have had an identity crisis which the USA avoided because of our v...more
This book is about AU, I have friends there, been there. USA & AU have a great deal in common. We are both "new world." Plants and animals have been introduced to our land by home sick Europeans- often a negative for our new world. AU seems to have had an identity crisis which the USA avoided because of our v...more
Mar 21, 2013
Nancy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who enjoy historical novels
Recommended to Nancy by:
Book Group
I really enjoyed the story; the author used words very well. The one thing about the story that bothered me were all the contradictions, especially in relation to character development, to the point that I started keeping track of them. Because I read this on a Kindle, I did not have the advantage of reading the fly leafs. This lead to a rather humorous situation. On page 62, the father was speaking to someone named "Jill". I didn't know who Jill was, so I did a search on the word and realized t...more
Coorain was a large sheep-raising property in western Australia owned by Jill Ker Conway’s parents. The values attached to landowning in the 19th and early 20th century (and enforced in the Ker family) not only emphasized thrift and hard work, but they were rigidly class-conscious and completely colonial, seeing England as "home" to an extent that in hindsight had its comic aspects; Conway does not fail to mock the way her school imposed the blazers and gloves of an English springtime on childre...more
Feb 23, 2013
Elizabeth
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
feminists who are quiet as a mouse with wills of steel
Shelves:
2013
It is debatable what was the toughest thing about this autobiography... growing up in the bush of Australia in the 1930s or the demanding and easily unmoored relationship the author has with her mother. Jill Conway is one smart whip of a person though, this is not debatable. She goes from the outback to become president of Smith from 1975-1985, among other later accolades. What a road it's been from sheep station to intellectual elite. The book is interesting also in the ways it portrays how dee...more
This is a good book, but it's a slow one, and the author/main character is neither particularly appealing nor extremely interesting, and she did not leave a very interesting life, except for the fact that much of it was spent in Australia. Nevertheless, the writing is evocative and detailed, and under Conway's pen Australia springs to life brilliantly. I enjoyed the first half of the book much more, because it was mostly about the trials and wonders of living in Australia, but the second half di...more
I’ve been wanting to read this book forever, and recently found it in the library. It doesn’t disappoint. It begins with a whole chapter describing the Australian bush country – the shape and colors of the land, the weather, the birds and animals, the people. It’s as though she’s painting a vivid, detailed background, empty of specific characters. And then the characters appear: Jill and her family.
Conway leaves very little out, but at the same time, crafts her life story with great skill and c...more
Conway leaves very little out, but at the same time, crafts her life story with great skill and c...more
even if jill ker conway hadn't distinguished herself as the first female president of smith college,i would still highly recommend this book. this is a memoir of her first 25 years growing up in australia's bush country and eventually moving to sydney. it is startling to read about conditions and a lifestyle that seem more suited to the 1800s, rather than the mid 20th-century, and i definitely have a tinge of envy that as a seven-year-old, ker conway was helping her dad to herd sheep on horsebac...more
Jill Ker Conway has led a remarkable life. By age seven she was an accomplished hand on her parents’ sheep ranch but had not yet encountered another female child in the Australian bush country. There are so many different facets to this memoir.
Conway explores her often rocky relationship with her mother: “The tweed coat my mother was wearing scratched and prickled so that mixed in with the security was a sense of being ill at ease. The memory is symbolic of the way the relationship was to unfol...more
Conway explores her often rocky relationship with her mother: “The tweed coat my mother was wearing scratched and prickled so that mixed in with the security was a sense of being ill at ease. The memory is symbolic of the way the relationship was to unfol...more
Sep 09, 2010
Gorfo
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
australians
Recommended to Gorfo by:
school
This book was as dry as the Australian outback at first. Description after description of the beauty of the pretty much lifeless desert is not entertaining! It's also my second memoir withhin the space of a few weeks which is a fantastic leap for a person who's now officially read only seven non-fiction books in their life!
Eventually the book got better though taking a very well traveled road of rights for women, which is very important but also just plain predictable! The WHOLE book was painful...more
Eventually the book got better though taking a very well traveled road of rights for women, which is very important but also just plain predictable! The WHOLE book was painful...more
This is a mind-boggling memoir of a girl who grew up at Coorain, a 32,000 acre ranch in the bush country of Australia. Jill Ker grew up with her family, isolated from other children. There are vivid descriptions of the sheep ranch and the shearing and crews that came to help. The harrowing descriptions of surviving weeks, months and years of drought are sobering when you read about the sheep and the toll it takes on everyone. At age 11 she and her mother left for Sydney. In spite of her already-...more
This was my first autobiography, and I discovered it as a miniseries on PBS. I found that I related a lot to Jill in feeling out of place in one's skin and environment. Her anecdotes and hardships made me both laugh and sigh. Plus, talk about visuals. I felt like I was in the Australian Outback with her. This is a must read for women.
I read this for a book club, and although it isn't one I would choose on my own, I found parts of it interesting. I felt that as a historian the author didn't move the story as fast as I would have liked. I do, however, feel that she was able to remember and recreate the feelings of the age in which her experiences occurred.
I thought at times she used her mother as a scape-goat to account for her weight, appearance, lack of social skills, and courage.
I was impressed by her aptitude for learning...more
I thought at times she used her mother as a scape-goat to account for her weight, appearance, lack of social skills, and courage.
I was impressed by her aptitude for learning...more
A memoir of Jill growing up on a sheep ranch in Australia1940s and 1950s, continuing on to her college education in Sidney. Conway is a wonderful writer with excellent choice of words and descriptions. Her love of the land and the intricacies of the environment show up often in her writings. Despite her education, she still loved to go back to the sheep ranch, Coorain, to enjoy the simple life. I liked the book because of the sense I felt of Conway emerging from a cocoon of Australian ignorance,...more
I don't usually read autobiographies, but this one was a real page-turner... The author has led a fascinating life. I found her descriptions of the Australian outback entrancing, and her story of growing up as a strong woman in a chauvinistic age understated and powerful.
1 like · like · see review
Jul 25, 2011
Kate
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
feminists, intellectuals, nature lovers, and people interested in family dynamics
Recommended to Kate by:
My high school English teacher and my memoir writing teacher.
A fantastic and engaging memoir showing how Jill Ker Conway's early years on the sheep farm in Coorain, Australia helped shape her into the academic she later became here in the United States.
This book starts off beautifully with in depth descriptions of the harsh Australian outback, a place I've never been, but would like to go, and through Ms. Conway's words I was there. Then the book ends with Jill Ker Conway leaving for America at age 26. I enjoyed the fact that education was fun for her, no...more
This book starts off beautifully with in depth descriptions of the harsh Australian outback, a place I've never been, but would like to go, and through Ms. Conway's words I was there. Then the book ends with Jill Ker Conway leaving for America at age 26. I enjoyed the fact that education was fun for her, no...more
I wanted to read a book with an Australian theme, because my husband and I recently visited our daughter who is living there. This is a true story about a woman who grew up on a sheep farm in the bush. She loves the land, despite experiencing drought and hardship. After the tragic death of her father, her mother moves with her to Sydney (into the same area where our daughter is living now). She gets the chance to attend school. It turns out she is a brilliant student. Her mother becomes increasi...more
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Feb 28, 2013 04:20am
Feb 28, 2013 10:22am