Probably the biggest reasons are that Russia doesn't have as much appeal to American college students (unlike say France or Germany) because the country is seen as dysfunctional. And unlike Chinese or Arabic, Americans don't see much financial opportunity in learning to speak Russian.
Aside from "serious literature struggle" a nation that liked catch-22 and stuff like that would dig "Monday begins on Saturday". Its been out of print forever (in english), used copies sell for $50 on amazon.
Something to think about with "failed markets" is when you only have a microscopic hyper regulated oligopoly you can end up with tons of demand but if the small number of providers close ranks and refuse to sell that kind of stuff, well... doesn't matter if used or bootleg copies indicate market demand at $50, the general public simply will not be permitted to read. Its very much like recording company execs as gatekeepers, if you disagree with them well tough cookies you aren't going to hear what you want.
I suffered thru about half of "The Idiot" before I gave up, and I almost never give up on books, but Russia is really big and not all russian lit is like that (although there is a lot of old russian lit that obviously was paid for on a "per word" contract)
Apparently, a new version of Monday Begins on Saturday is due to be released in September, costing £4 and £10 for the Kindle and paperback editions, respectively.
