I still don't understand how a single person could have created a convincing and compassionate portrait for such a wide range of characters. I think this range

I still don't understand how a single person could have created a convincing and compassionate portrait for such a wide range of characters. I think this range is much larger than what you have in "War and Peace". An awe-inspiring book... (I read the book as series of publications in a soviet literary journal some thirty years ago, time moves fast if you come to think of it)