Malaquais, from mastery to paralysis

A student, while studying an excerpt from the Journal de guerre, once asked : « Madam, when Malaquais spoke, did his friends have a dictionary on their knees to understand him? » The question is not a quip : Malaquais is indeed a virtuoso of the French language, juggler of words, acrobat of syntax. Polish and polyglot, his work reflects his image: it explores the world, pushes boundaries, denounces what locks in. How such a requirement could have led him to paralysis?