Russian literature abroad

       The headline of Dmitry Bak's Russia beyond the Headlines article -- From Chekhov to Akunin, Russian literature is being condensed -- seems to have lost something in translation, but his lament -- "The bottom line is that the majesty of Russian literature has fallen from favor, or rather it has dissipated" -- comes across loud and clear.
       More defensive than usual for these variations on the familiar no-one-understands-us(-and-that's-why-they're-not-buying-our-books) article, Bak suggests:

Then there are authors who fare rather well in the country of export, namely Russia, but then flop in the import country. There are many of these, but they flop not because they are too Russian or too provincial, but for more indistinct, more sociological reasons. Much like a stock market index, interlinked with the subtle ups and down of the market.

The level of Russian literature is notably high, just as it always was, but it is extremely difficult or even impossible to transpose this into another context.

       Ah, those mysterious sociological reasons .....
       What it boils down to ?

The point there is that Russian literature is not conceited, it simply digs too deep for most ordinary people.

       Oh, bless them for taking themselves (and the products of the beloved motherland) so seriously.
       (That said, I agree that far too little contemporary Russian fiction makes it abroad -- and especially into English. But there are a lot of reasons for this, and suggesting Russian literature "digs too deep for most ordinary people" is not a good starting point to fix any of these.)