ID this book: Napoleonic Wars, tame goat
August 26, 2016 7:29 PM Subscribe
Can you identify this 1800s (?) Eastern/Central European novel based on the half-remembered description of an unintentionally hilarious sex scene?
This really great Hairpin list put me in mind of a vaguely remembered novel (specifically: Really? The war is still going on?)
I have no idea when this book was written. It took place in the 1700s and 1800s. Possibly Russian, definitely Eastern/Central European. I read it in translation in English, and it was originally written in another language. DEFINITELY NOT THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV although I recognize the plot is similar. Also not War And Peace. It was not a good book.
The actions of the novel took place over many years, if not generations. There were two mostly unrelated plotlines--one involved a man fighting a war (I am pretty sure it was the Napoleonic Wars, but searching books about the Napoleonic Wars is giving me nothing) (I also seem to call that the man was a mercenary but I could be misremembering), and the other had to do with the man's wife who was in love with the man's brother. The characters were wealthy/noble. The bulk of the book was war scenes. The writing, or maybe translation, was poor, and it was often difficult to follow what was happening. There was more of a focus on the big picture than any individual character or scene or motivation. I can't remember why I was reading it, or why I continued to read it.
I remember the storyline with the woman more clearly, even though it made up a smaller portion of the book. The woman had sex with her husband's brother (who was gross and sleazy, but the only man who could bring her to orgasm), and then I think she might have gotten pregnant and had an abortion (I'm actually not sure; the writing was unclear), but she did definitely have some kind of uterine-related disease, and she eventually died.
Here's my most specific memory: an unintentionally hilarious and bizarre sex scene where the woman was milking a cow in a lusty way (which, I know, doesn't make any sense because she was supposed to be a noblewoman) and the brother in law sees her. He headbutted her breasts "like a tame goat" and then they had sex. I remember that line "like a tame goat" and would bet money that that is the exact line, but searching google books for it brings up nothing.
Other detail: I have a particular interest in the history of the Balkans, so there's a reasonable chance this book is related to that interest.
Well, now we're all thinking about goats. Any ideas?
This really great Hairpin list put me in mind of a vaguely remembered novel (specifically: Really? The war is still going on?)
I have no idea when this book was written. It took place in the 1700s and 1800s. Possibly Russian, definitely Eastern/Central European. I read it in translation in English, and it was originally written in another language. DEFINITELY NOT THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV although I recognize the plot is similar. Also not War And Peace. It was not a good book.
The actions of the novel took place over many years, if not generations. There were two mostly unrelated plotlines--one involved a man fighting a war (I am pretty sure it was the Napoleonic Wars, but searching books about the Napoleonic Wars is giving me nothing) (I also seem to call that the man was a mercenary but I could be misremembering), and the other had to do with the man's wife who was in love with the man's brother. The characters were wealthy/noble. The bulk of the book was war scenes. The writing, or maybe translation, was poor, and it was often difficult to follow what was happening. There was more of a focus on the big picture than any individual character or scene or motivation. I can't remember why I was reading it, or why I continued to read it.
I remember the storyline with the woman more clearly, even though it made up a smaller portion of the book. The woman had sex with her husband's brother (who was gross and sleazy, but the only man who could bring her to orgasm), and then I think she might have gotten pregnant and had an abortion (I'm actually not sure; the writing was unclear), but she did definitely have some kind of uterine-related disease, and she eventually died.
Here's my most specific memory: an unintentionally hilarious and bizarre sex scene where the woman was milking a cow in a lusty way (which, I know, doesn't make any sense because she was supposed to be a noblewoman) and the brother in law sees her. He headbutted her breasts "like a tame goat" and then they had sex. I remember that line "like a tame goat" and would bet money that that is the exact line, but searching google books for it brings up nothing.
Other detail: I have a particular interest in the history of the Balkans, so there's a reasonable chance this book is related to that interest.
Well, now we're all thinking about goats. Any ideas?
Response by poster: OH YES.
How did you find it?
posted by Ideal Impulse at 7:47 PM on August 26, 2016
How did you find it?
posted by Ideal Impulse at 7:47 PM on August 26, 2016
I went to google books advanced search and typed "tame goat" on the "exact phrase" line and "breasts" on the "at least one of the words" line and it was the first result ;) You were right about the exact phrasing. And also right, in that it sounds pretty bad..... ;P
posted by the webmistress at 7:51 PM on August 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by the webmistress at 7:51 PM on August 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
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Description: "A historical novel on the Serbs by one of the great Serbian novelists of the 20th Century. It is set early in the 18th Century during a war between France and Austria. There are three protagonists: two brothers--a military officer and a merchant--and a beautiful, neurotic woman who is wife to one and mistress to the other."
On page 204: "tickling her with his beard and nudging her breasts with his head like a tame goat"
posted by the webmistress at 7:45 PM on August 26, 2016 [5 favorites]