What is acceptable, nay riveting, on the page is verbose and unconvincing on the screen. Unfortunately, these seem to have been lifted from the book and grafted onto the programme. The book is driven by it and often the characters have long, involved conversations. The most abject let-down was in the dialogue. It was vanishingly unlikely that any director would have been able to convey properly the social, political and emotional currents of those complex and volatile times so the slavish adherence to the book meant that the whole TV project would be a failure unless it had been adapted for modern audiences while retaining and explaining the themes and background. But the series is "based on" rather than an "adaptation of". The sets are magnificent and are the sole reason I have given three stars. The novel was a cry against and riposte to the fashionable nihilistic and Western tendencies of the times that were taking hold of some of the privileged Russian youth. The wonderful book, one of the best novels ever to have been written, was done a disservice by this mini series.
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