It sounds like Spufford fails to see the Soviet citizens as real humans. For an example how to not do that, all one must do is read any of the authors you ment

It sounds like Spufford fails to see the Soviet citizens as real humans. For an example how to not do that, all one must do is read any of the authors you mention (or Tolstoy, Chukovskaya, Gogol...) Tolstoy in particular has a knack for painting the interior psychological worlds of his characters fluidly and from a place of deep empathy.