Setting aside the misogyny (if that is, indeed, possible) of a scientific text written in 1897, this remains a stunning account of the social and cultural physics of suicide, a work that finally placed most of the fatal onus on society and not the individual. There is a lot to learn here, whether in subject or in method, and many of the statistics on display (and what they reveal) are genuinely surprising. Why do more people end their lives in summer than winter? Why are economic booms as deadly as busts? It’s all meticulously reasoned out and well worth the time and effort.

A really fascinating read, even if some of the authors assumptions about men and women haven’t aged very well.

Read for Shimer Great Books, 2017. A good one, still applicable, not without issues, but brought some awesome discussions.

В чтении работ по зарождающейся социологии есть две крайности - "занимательно, но неправдоподобно" и "скучно, как песок жевать". Причём некоторые книги переходят из первой крайности во вторую, но никогда наоборот. Честно говоря, ближе к концу я начал читать уже способом, ближе к партитурному. Поставлю рядом с Контом и Фрейдом. Устарело, но любопытно.

Structuralism has it's place in the grand scheme of Sociology as a discipline, but when we attempt to study social phenomena exclusively through the lens of 'social facts', a part of the story will inevitably get left behind.

A sociological perspective on the data. Interesting arguments.