I know its unfashionable but I liked what Sholokhov wrote. It was very influential on me as a younger man. And, if you read around he did some stuff which had high risks for an accolyte of Stalin: he did actually stand up for others at some potential risk. So, literary theft happens everywhere, in oppressive and non-oppressive societies.

But.. I get why people are "down" on Sholokhov. But I do like the books. And quiet flows the don/The Don Flows home to the sea in translation, are very thoughtful books. I don't think he entirely stole all of these words.

Indeed. The linked article actually explains that he put it together from an unfinished novel and adding his own bits. While obviously not all his own work, it is more complicated than the traditional story that he just found a completed novel and put his name on it.