One of my passions is literature... but my time to read is valuable... "classical" literature is "timeless" ... about the "human condition", and common ideas of life among all cultures, all countries... Dostoevsky, Gogol, Bulgakov and many others are the "masters of the art" in examining humanity... all humanity... not only Russians, or Ukrainians. For everyone.
Ok. I groked your position on Russian “classics”. But now you would try to understand my(ordinary Russian) thoughts.
We reads this books in young age, and “classics” just builds some of our stereotypes and food for dirty anecdotes for all life. Heroes of Dostoevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy are far from our reality and far from our imagination, and we reads “War and Peace” as historic roman, where all women was beautiful and men was noble, i.e. not as “moral standards” or something. Young Russian boy gets ten times more moral standarts from “Three musketeers” or “Captain Blood” than from Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky books all together! Why? Because, in 12-14 age, when human beens builts theirs personality, they want see “bricks” in it, not “slims”! In this age there is no time for question «Тварь ли я дрожащая или право имею»? No such type of sliming at all.
Bulgakov’s books - it’s other thing. Usually we read him as modern writer, i.e. he talks to us, not to our forefathers as an target audience. And we love him much more, you can often hear quotes from «Мастер и Маргарита» in our speech.

I choose to read these books (and not "popular fiction") because they help me to learn, and understand life. Pelevin's writings have also helped me, the same. But I know he's not popular with many people.
Sorry, but You are wrong! Pelevin is dark sarcastic "popular fiction" writer, too much popular from my view.
Girls and students are just piss oneself reading his books. It’s like Steven King but kinda Russian.
I hope that you don’t perceive him as а new “classic”!

But it was Tarkovsky... yes, I know many people are bored with his films, many people don't like them... but he inspired me to begin to study Russian. His films please me very much. I think he was the best film-maker of the 20th century in the whole world.
Yeah! “Stalker” and “Solaris” are my favorite movies, but not only Tarkovsky make them so bright! Станислав Лемм, Стругатские (АБС). Кайдановский в «Сталкере», he makes 99% force of Stalker not Tarkovsky! If it wasn't Кайдановский, but other actor, then Stalker's monolog became a high-pitched piece of shit in Mannerism style, such "reasoning of bad human nature", was very popular for bakers in Florence 16th century.

So... maybe this will help you understand me better.
Maybe, but we still have different POVs on Russian literature: I’m inside the bottle, you are outside. So you often will see good color of old red wine and noble old dusted cobwed on the bottle, but i'm feel vinegar on my tongue and crust on the walls, if wine is overaged. And I just want to tell you that.