i recommend the series to everyone interested in russian culture and literature . myself i have be wait for such a masterpiece for a long time . the character and the atmosphere create exactly like in the book exactly how i want to see them . apart from everything visible you can read more between the line and specially if you be familiar with russian history and the social relation in the past . reality be not show too clearly but it be all on purpose because the author and the director idea be to show a grotesque and rather than a document . every detail have a meaning here and so . open your mind .