Orthodox Won't Recommunicate Tolstoy

The Russian Orthodox Church refused to rehabilitate him and the state chose to ignore him, but the official silence surrounding the 100th anniversary of Leo Tolstoy's death has not muffled praise or quelled debate.

Unlike the 150th anniversary of writer Anton Chekhov's birth this year -- which prompted an emotional outpouring from President Dmitry Medvedev and spurred a nationwide festival -- the November centenary of one of Russia's most universally acclaimed writers has been met with surreal silence.