One of my favorites is "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov. Although I do agree that I'm sure there is a lot lost in translation. I look forward to a day when I am able to read it in its original language :)

How about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?

His book " Arkhipelag GuLag-The Gulag Archipelago" (Published in the West in 1973) is about the Soviet forced labour camp system. 

It was not officially published in Russia until the creation of the Russian Federation.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulag_Archipelago 

Russian literature is very interesting and, in my humbe opinion, realistic; it kind of opens one's eyes to the ugly side of society. I've come across topics such as injustice, child labor and oppression in works by Chekov such as "An Upheaval" and "Vanka". Would definitely like to read more short stories written by other authors to get to know more about this great literature! :)

Mikhail Bulgakov  <3

Mason Wang, it's already translated about 100 years ago to multiple world languages.

Usmcmadness, I always wondered how non-Russians could understand "Master and Margarita", there are a lot of very special details that could be understood only if you know the whole historical-social picture! It's really challenging to read such literature :) However, this book would help you understand better the current Russian life, it's very up to date nowadays. Seems that all heroes came alive today.