Though it is a deeply felt novel, Sjón's prose is never histrionic or overwrought, balancing rage and hallucination (there are echoes of Artaud and Ballard) with a gentleness of spirit, an affection for precision and the small scale.
It does not halt the work, but it offers a gentleness that opens us up for the final explosion.
It forsakes gentleness for machismo, balance for bluster.
"My fashion is not unisex," Mr. Armani has said, "but it does insist upon more gentleness for men, and more strength for women".
Most important, like Larkin, Houellebecq is a tender pervert whose poems on wanking and self-disgust also reveal an occluded gentleness and compassion for the human lot.
But the drink tempers the yuzu with rose syrup, which has sweetness and a floral gentleness, and club soda, for the promised fizz.
And as the days of filming go by, the actor's work resounds with a special gentleness, the sort reserved for men who have known many things, among them what it is to be a tiger.
On the whole, however, either through Mr. Brubeck's overriding force of personality and technical skill or through a leveling gentleness - I would opt for the latter - the music sounds pretty much of a piece.
For his behaviour and accomplishments, The Times wrote a tribute to Frederick in July 1871, stating that "the Prince has won as much honour for his gentleness as for his prowess in the war".
