The Diffuculty of Being

The Difficulty of Being by Jean Cocteau is a smaller book that I picked up recently. Its a nonlinear novel in which each chapter recounts a moment of Cocteau's life. I'm really enjoying it so far, I believe that I would like all of Cocteau's writings in some way. He has a way with words that speaks to me regardless of how enigmatic and hard to decipher it can be. We share a lot of the same transient and ephemeral emotions that are incredibly hard to translate into words, so it's extremely pleasing to me to discover someone who could actually pull it off.

I was introduced to Jean Cocteau with his book Les Enfants Terribles. That book was especially interesting to me because I simply found it in my brother's room and felt obligated to read it. It was so mysterious, this french paperback book with a black cover and a minimalist white title. It was so hard for me to read. It was written in old 20th century french and then translated into english, so it was a big challenge to decipher it all.

It could really be classified as poetry the way that Cocteau writes. Especially in this novel, his words are so specifically chosen that they could not be denied as poetic in nature. I love the fact that I can read what I’m feeling on a novel written decades ago. It’s humbling to me, as a human being with amplified emotions and feelings stemming from deep rooted qualities and experiences. I’m very grateful for having discovered this author and I do hope I never reach the point in which I’ve run out of works by him to read.