Page "Jean Cocteau" Paragraph 6

There is disagreement over Cocteau's reaction to Radiguet's sudden death in 1923, with some claiming that it left him stunned, despondent and prey to opium addiction.

Opponents of that interpretation point out that he did not attend the funeral ( he generally did not attend funerals ) and immediately left Paris with Diaghilev for a performance of Les noces ( The Wedding ) by the Ballets Russes at Monte Carlo.

Cocteau himself much later characterised his reaction as one of " stupor and disgust.

" His opium addiction at the time, Cocteau said, was only coincidental, due to a chance meeting with Louis Laloy, the administrator of the Monte Carlo Opera.

Cocteau's opium use and his efforts to stop profoundly changed his literary style.

His most notable book, Les Enfants terribles, was written in a week during a strenuous opium weaning.

In Opium: Journal of drug rehabilitation ( Opium: Journal d ' une désintoxication ), he recounts the experience of his recovery from opium addiction in 1929.

His account, which includes vivid pen-and-ink illustrations, alternates between his moment-to-moment experiences of drug withdrawal and his current thoughts about people and events in his world.

Cocteau was supported throughout his recovery by his friend and correspondent philosopher Jacques Maritain.

Under Maritain's influence Cocteau made a temporary return to the sacraments of the Catholic Church.