Rust is funny because in one sense it's hard and clunky. However, it's only ever precisely as hard and clunky as it needs to be. Everywhere something can be made more concise, or readable, or convenient, without sacrificing any control, it has been. Anytime something is hard or inconvenient, it's because the underlying domain really is exactly that hard or inconvenient.

Contrast this with other languages, which are often clunky when they don't need to be and/or "easy" when they shouldn't be.