content: And if you're not currently among the ranks of the depressed, you will be after reading this novel. Seriously, I did not find the novel either a) beautiful or b) worth reading. Perhaps it would have been very moving in a tragic sense if I had bought any of Wharton's feeble attempts at painting a story of forbidden love gone wrong. The novel entirely lacked any real connection with human emotions and behaviors. Perhaps, if the storyline of the book were my life, it would depress me very much. The pointlessness and ironic misfortune of these characters lives is remarkable, but I was left feeling too apathetic to be upset by this fact. I do not suggest you torture yourself by reading this novel, unless you have a flair for masochism.