The Balance Sheet of Divorce

Le Roux, Hugues, 1860-1925Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 225K words
Chapters: 23

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Le Bilan du Divorce by Hugues Le RouxAuthor: Le Roux, Hugues, 1860-1925,Language: French, Class: HQ: Social sciences: The family, Marriage, Sex and Gender, Release Date: Jun 26, 2012

Editor's review

Written in French, this book offers observations and commentary on divorce as a social issue and belongs to the popular literature of early sociology and family studies. The author, Hugo Leroux, links law, family ethics, and social mores, discussing the impact of divorce on individuals and family structure in a polemical style characteristic of late 19th-century French public writing. Its value lies in the historical snapshot it provides: today's readers can use it to see how intellectuals of the time understood the dissolution of marriage, gender roles, and institutional change. Its views carry the limitations of their era and should not be cited directly as modern research findings, but it remains useful as material for understanding the evolution of social attitudes. Suitable for readers interested in French family history, the history of social thought, or French-language nonfiction; it is best read alongside contemporary research for comparison and critical analysis.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in French family history and the evolution of social attitudes
Social science students with some French reading ability
Historical readers studying marriage institutions and gender issues
Readers who enjoy polemical nonfiction

Not a good fit for

Readers with no French reading ability and no parallel-text resources
Readers expecting modern empirical data and statistical analysis
Readers looking only for light stories or fiction

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and chapter headings to grasp the author's basic framework for discussing divorce.
Mark value-laden statements while reading, distinguishing period prejudice from observations worth discussing.
Read alongside an introductory book on modern family sociology to develop a critical awareness of the issues.
If reading French slowly, summarize chapter by chapter rather than struggling through word by word.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or social commentary?

It is a work of social commentary on the issue of divorce, belonging to the social sciences and family studies rather than fiction, and its style is argumentative and observational.

Can I read it if my French is only average?

The book is in the original French, with sentence structures and vocabulary characteristic of its era. Readers with average French can start with the introduction and conclusion, then read selected chapters with a dictionary or parallel resources.

Are the book's views still applicable today?

The book reflects the social attitudes of a particular historical period, and some judgments carry the limitations of their era. It is better read today as material for the history of ideas rather than as a source of conclusions to cite directly.

Is it suitable for citation in academic papers?

It can be cited as historical background or material for the history of ideas, but its period and standpoint should be noted and it should be paired with modern research literature; it should not be used as the sole basis for an argument.

Comments

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About the author

Le Roux, Hugues, 1860-1925 Author

Hugues Le Roux (1860–1925) was a French writer known for observing social customs and public life, and his works often move between reportage and literature. Two of his books are held in this collection: Acrobats and Mountebanks and Le Bilan du Divorce. The former focuses on the world of acrobats, circus performers and street entertainers, while the latter discusses divorce as an institution and its social consequences. Though very different in subject, both show a sustained interest in real-world issues and marginal groups. His writing emphasises concrete scenes and social phenomena, with the calm, narrative tone of an observer rather than abstract argument, giving him a place in the popular social writing of his time. Note: The collection does not record his English name, nationality or exact dates beyond the years given, and public information is limited. This profile is based only on the available bibliographic facts and well-established general knowledge, without speculation about his career.