With its mix of romance and drama charted over 1,300 pages, War and Peace is known for being a long and demanding novel to read.

长篇浪漫小说《战争与和平》全书1300多页，素以篇幅长、阅读难度大而闻名。

But despite a TV adaptation of the book aired on the BBC, even some of the stars of the production have admitted to never reading the classic before landing their roles.

一部根据本书改编的电视剧已于BBC频道开播。不过，参演的不少明星都承认：在接到这个角色之前，他们从未读过这本经典名著。

The epic novel about the French invasion of Russia seen through the eyes of five aristocratic families, by Leo Tolstoy, was first published in 1869 and took the author more than six years to write.

这部史诗小说为列夫·托尔斯泰所著，写作时间历时六年多，于1869年首次出版。该书从五个贵族家庭的视角向读者展现了法国入侵俄国的那段历史。

It is considered one of the great novels of the literary world but also as a tough read, given it is length and the fact it has more than 600 characters.

《战争与和平》是世界文学中最伟大的作品之一，但由于篇幅长，加上书中人物达600多个，所以读者阅读起来很有难度。

And several of the stars have admitted to the Telegraph only reading it when landing their roles.

在接受英国每日电讯报采访时，好几位主演承认，知道自己要出演某个角色后，他们才开始读这本书。

Lily James, who plays Natasha Rostov in the epic said she had never read the book but was hooked once she started ploughing through it while on the set of Downton Abbey.

莉莉·詹姆斯在剧中饰演娜塔莎·罗斯托娃。从未看过本书的她称自己在拍摄《唐顿庄园》的间隙开始啃这本书，很快就入了迷。

She said: 'I was reading it while we were filming Downton Abbey. I'd be reading between takes at the dining table. The director would call "Action" and - bang!- the book would be back under the table.'

她说道：“我是一边拍《唐顿庄园》一边看《战争与和平》的。一有拍摄停顿，我就坐在餐桌边阅读。导演喊‘开拍’时，我马上‘啪’地合上书放回桌子底下。”

James Norton who plays her love interest Prince Andrei admitted he only managed a few pages of the classic before filming began, while on the set of another TV show.

詹姆斯·诺顿在剧中饰演娜塔莎的爱慕对象安德烈公爵，他也表示自己只是在拍另一部剧时抽空翻了几页《战争与和平》，然后就投入了拍摄。

He added: 'The only bit I read before was when I was sitting at that bus stop, waiting for the cameras to turn around, I got through around ten pages.'

他表示：“我之前读到的那几页是在拍戏间隙看的。当时在等着下个镜头开拍，我坐在公交站台看了大概有十页。”

While Paul Dano, who plays Pierre Bezukhov admitted when he did get round to reading it, he found a few parts difficult to get through.

在剧中饰演皮埃尔·别祖霍夫的保罗·达诺表示，自己特意抽时间读了一下这本书，但发现有些内容确实难以读懂。

The BBC drama boasts an impressive cast including Harry Potter's Jim Broadbent and The Fall's Gillian Anderson.

这部BBC新剧号称拥有超豪华演员阵容，包括曾出演《哈利波特》的吉姆·布劳德本特以及《堕落》女主角吉莲·安德森等。

It has been adapted by Andrew Davies, who is best knwon for his huge success in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth.

本片编剧安德鲁·戴维斯1995年还曾改编过科林·费尔斯版《傲慢与偏见》，大获成功。

Mr Davies has since worked on Vanity Fair, Bleak House and Sense And Sensibility, to name a few.

此后，戴维斯也担任过不少作品的编剧，包括《名利场》 、《荒凉山庄》、《理智与情感》等。

However, he too admitted he had never read War And Peace until he was asked to consider adapting it for TV by Faith Penhale, head of drama for BBC.

不过，与上面的各位演员一样，他承认，直到BBC电视剧频道主任费斯·彭黑尔找到他，希望他能将这本书改编成电视剧时，他才开始读《战争与和平》。

"I took it with me on holiday, and you know what? Once you get into it, it's a page-turner," he said.

他说道：“度假时我带上了这本书，你猜怎么着？一旦开始读它，你就再也停不下来了。”

"Great characters, thrilling action scenes, lots of battles (of course), a classic duel, several love stories, with seductions, betrayals and a happy ending for some, but not all, of our favourite characters. What's not to like?"

“人物塑造完美，动作场景精彩，当然还有很多战争场面以及经典的决斗情节，爱情、诱惑和背叛等线索穿插其间，虽然并非所有人物都结局圆满，但我们喜欢的不少角色最终都有了很好的归宿。你还有什么理由不喜欢它呢？”