CLASS 12 ENGLISH

THE INTERVIEW
The Interview by Christopher Silvester is an excerpt taken from his Penguin Book of Interviews. He
talks about various opinions of the celebrities regarding an interview; its functions, methods and merits.
It also consists of an excerpt from an interview with the writer Umberto Eco.
Summary
The lesson begins with the introduction to interview as a commonplace of journalism since its invention,
which was a little over 130 years ago. According to the author, it is not very surprising that people
have very distinct opinions about the usage of interview. Some think of it in its highest form whereas
some people can‟t stand being interviewed. An interview leaves a lasting impression and according to
an old saying, when perceptions are made about a certain person, the original identity of his soul gets
stolen. Famous celebrities, writers and artists have been heard criticizing interviews. Rudyard Kipling’s
wife wrote in her diary how their day in Boston was ruined by two reporters. Kipling considers
interviewing an assault, a crime that should attract punishment. He believes that a respectable man
would never ask or give an interview. Celebrities like V.S. Naipaul, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll and
H.G. Wells have expressed their strong despise for interviews. They consider interviews immoral -„an
assault‟ because they feel interviews leave a rather disparaging effect on their personalities and are
an encroachment on their privacy.

There is an excerpt from the interview between Mukund (from The Hindu newspaper) and Umberto
Eco, a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy who had already acquired a formidable reputation
as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics (the study of signs), literary interpretation, and medieval
aesthetics before he turned to writing fiction. The interview revolves around the success of his novel,
The Name of the Rose whose more than ten million copies were sold in the market.

The interviewer begins by asking him how Umberto manages to do so many different things to which
he replies by saying that he is doing the same thing. He further justifies and mentions that his books
about children talk about peace and non-violence which in the end, reflect his interest in philosophy.
Umberto identifies himself as an academic scholar who attends academic conferences during the week
and writes novels on Sundays. It doesn’t bother him that he is identified by others as a novelist and
not a scholar, because he knows that it is difficult to reach millions of people with scholarly work. He
believes there are empty spaces in one’s life, just like there are empty spaces in atoms and the
Universe. He calls them interstices and most of his productive work is done during that time.

Talking about his novel, he mentions that it is not an easy-read. It has a detective aspect to it along
with metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Also, he believes that had the novel

been written ten years earlier or later, it would have not seen such a huge success. Thus, the reason
for its success still remains a mystery.
Umberto Eco Interviewed – Umberto Eco Professor of Semiotics – Author of Academic Books
– More than 40 books! – Author of the Best Seller, “The Name of the Rose”

• Mukund – Sir, how do you manage time to write and teach and research? “I work in interstices
or empty spaces.”
• Mukund – Sir, how do you make your academic books interesting to reader? “I write my
academic books as novels.”
• How did you start writing novels? “Accidentally! But it worked.”
• While writing the Name of the Rose, were you puzzled? “No, but my publishers were puzzled.”
• What is the mystery of the success of the novel?
“It is still a mystery, but time of its publication matters a lot.

PART I
• Interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Opinions on the functions, methods and
merits of Interview vary considerably.
• Some claim it to be the highest form, a source of truth and in its practice an art.
• Some despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into lives, which diminishes their
personality.
• S. Naipaul feels that „some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves.‟
• Lewis Carroll never consented to be interviewed for he believed it to be „a just horror of the
interviewer‟.
• Rudyard Kipling considered it „immoral, a crime, an assault that merits punishment‟.
• G. Wells referred interviewing to be an „ordeal‟.
• Saul Bellow describes it „like thumbprints on his windpipe‟.
• Despite the drawbacks interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.
Interviews are the most vivid impression of our contemporaries and the interviewer holds a position of
unprecedented power and influence.

PART II
• An extract from an interview of Umberto Eco interviewed by Mukund Padmanabhan.
• Umberto Eco was a professor with a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on Semiotics,
literary interpretation and medieval aesthetics before he turned into writing literary fiction. He attained
intellectual superstardom with his publication “The Name of the Rose”.
• In the interview Eco shares his idea of empty spaces in our lives just as they exist in an atom,
which he calls Interstices. He says that he makes use of these empty spaces to work.
• Eco’s essays were scholarly and narrative. He likes to be identified more as a university professor
who writes novels.
• Eco’s „The Name of the Rose”, a serious novel, which delves into metaphysics, theology and
medieval history, enjoyed a mass audience. It dealt with medieval past. He feels that the novel wouldn’t
have been so well received had it been written ten years earlier or later
Terms to Remember
• VS Naipaul – “Wounded by interviews”
• Lewis Carroll – “Fear for the interviewer”
• Rudyard Kipling – “Hatred for interviewer/attack/assault/theft/indecent/punishable”
• HG Wells – “Ordeal/unpleasant experience”
• Soul Bellow – “Thumb prints on windpipe”
• Denis Brian – “Serviceable medium of communication between the celebrities and the ordinary
people. Inspiration.”
TO BE DONE IN THE NOTEBOOK
Q1 What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Ans Interview is a communication genre that has become a common place of journalism. It is
considered in its highest form, a source of truth and in its practice, an art. It is the supremely
serviceable medium of communication which gives the most vivid impression of our contemporaries. It
has become an extremely useful medium of communication within almost 130 years of its invention.
Q2. Why do most celebrity writers despite being interviewed?
•Most of the celebrities feel victimized and despise being interviewed as they consider it an unwanted
intrusion into their lives, as they feel they encroach upon their privacy. Writer V.S. Naipaul feels that
an interview can leave one wounded. Rudyard Kipling condemns them as immoral, an offence, or crime
and something cowardly and vile. Saul Bellow describes interviews as being like thumbprints on his
windpipe. He finds them strangulating and more of an assault. Lewis Carroll and H.G. Wells also are of
the same opinion about being interviewed.
Q3 What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Ans Some primitive cultures have a belief that photographing a person is like robbing them of their
soul. They feel that an interview diminishes them and they look at it with a sense of apprehension.
Q4 What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Ans Saul Bellow describes interviews as ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. The expression means that
interviews can leave a person suffocated and strangulated. They can choke an interviewee, make him
uneasy and are a personal assault on one’s privacy.
Q5 What in today's world is our chief source of information about personalities?
Ans Ever since the invention off the interview it is considered as the chief source of Information and
supremely serviceable medium of communication. interviews Divas.it gives the most vivid impression
of our contemporaries compared to other mediums like biographies and autobiographies.
Q6 Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Ans People have various opinions about interviews. Where some like being interviewed, others despise
it. Umberto Eco has readily answered all questions posed by Mukund, the interviewer. He has patiently
and sincerely, in length shared various experiences and anecdotes .He has given the required inputs
and details in a spirited manner which shows that he doesn't mind being interviewed and sharing his
experiences with the readers.

Q7 How does Eco find the time to write so much?

Ans Umberto Eco explains that he gives the impression that he has written so much on various
subjects and for a variety of age groups .He has to his credit, literary fiction ,academic texts, essays
,children’s books and newspaper articles .He says that he is actually doing the same thing as all his
works are linked with a thread of common interest .He says that the life of every person has simple
empty spaces or interstices which are actually periods with no important jobs .It is during this period
that he drafts all his writing thus saving a lot of time and says this is the secret behind his prolific pen.
Q8 What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Ans Regular academic writing is invariably depersonalized and often dry and boring .In contrast, Eco
has a distinctive writing style and informal approach which has a certain playful and personal quality
which gets the reader interested.
Q9 Did Umberto Eco Consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Ans. Though Eco agrees that fiction made him reach larger audience than his scholarly works, yet he
prefers being referred to as an academic scholar. He considers himself a University professor who write
novels on Sundays .He participates in academic conferences and not meetings of pen clubs and writers
.He identifies himself with the academic community more and writes fiction only when he is not
pursuing scholarly works.

• Q10 What is the reason for the huge success of the novel ‘The name of the rose’?
• Ans. The success of the novel was a mystery to Eco too. It is quite a serious novel. It is a
detective story at one level but probes into metaphysics, theology and medieval history at the other.
Despite being such a difficult subject, it was understood and enjoyed by the readers probably because
it was written at the most appropriate time. The reasons for the success of the novel still remains a
mystery.
Short Answer Questions:
1. How does Eco find the time to write so much?
A. Eco is a university professor who attends academic conferences all week. He finds so much time
to write in the empty spaces that we all have in our lives, just like the structure of atoms and Universe.
He terms these empty spaces as „interstices‟. If he is waiting for someone coming to his house via the
escalator, he would use that time to write an essay rather than sit idle. He considers himself a scholar
who writes novels on Sundays.
2. What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
A. Generally, academic scholars write false hypothesis, rectify them and then give conclusions. On
the other hand, Umberto takes the readers through the journey of his research, quoting all the trials
and errors to reach the conclusion. His narrative style of writing made him distinctive.
3. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
A. Umberto Eco identifies himself with the academic community. According to him, he is a university
professor who attends academic conferences all week and writes novels on Sundays.
4. What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
A. The novel, The Name of the Rose is a hard-read, differentiating it from other novels. It is a
detective narrative that contains metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Thus, it targeted the
audience that is not interested in an easy reading experience, probably not all the time. However, the
success of the novel still remains a mystery. According to Umberto, had the novel been written ten
years earlier or later, it would have not attracted the same proportion of audience.
5. What enabled Eco to acquire the equivalent of intellectual superstardom?
Umberto Eco is famous for his books on semiotics and popular for his novel. Besides, he deals with
literary interpretation, medieval aesthetics, literary fiction, academic texts, essays, children‟s books,
newspaper articles, etc. This quality of being at the same time able to handle such a wide range of
subjects as a writer enabled him to acquire the equivalent of intellectual superstardom.
Long Answer Questions:
Q1. Why did Umberto Eco start writing novels and when? What does Eco say about the huge success
of his novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’ in spite of it being a difficult and very serious novel?
Answer: Umberto Eco was essentially an academician who pursued his scholarly pursuits through
academic writings. He wrote about forty nonfictions and as he himself says, „he became a novelist by
accident‟. That was the reason he started writing novels at the age of almost fifty.
Eco considers himself „a university professor who writes novels (only) on Sundays‟. He is not even very
sure about any one single reason for the huge success of his novel „The Name of the Rose‟. He feels
perhaps the timing of the novel’s publication was the most important factor of its success. The fact
that at one level it appears to be a detective yarn but also delves into metaphysics; theology and
medieval history also adds to its appeal.
Though the novel is quite a heavy reading experience, it attracted a mass audience and made Eco
popular more as a novelist rather than an academic scholar.
Q2.What impression do you form about Umberto Eco as a scholar and writer on the basis of
‘The Interview’? Or
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer: Umberto Eco’s style is narrative, written in the manner of a story. This is in contrast to a
regular academic style which is invariably depersonalized, dry and boring. His scholarly work has a
certain playful and personal quality to it. He pursued his philosophical interests through his academic
work and novels. He also wrote books for children on non-violence and peace.
Umberto Eco, a professor at the University of Bologna, in Italy, is an authority on Semeiotics, the study
of signs. He is also a well-known novelist. His scholarly works include academic texts, essays, children’s
books and newspaper articles. He pursues his philosophical interests through his academic writings and
novels. In spite of having reached the zeniths of intellectuality, Eco is a humble and modest scholar.
He brushes aside compliments and never boasts about his achievements. He is keen to share his
experiences with others and shares the secret of accomplishing so much work by revealing the facts
that he makes use of time- gaps between different pieces of work. Eco follows an informal and playful
style of writing with a narrative aspect. Even his research work has a quality of creative writing and
makes informative as well as interesting reading.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. “The Name of the Rose” deals with medieval history. Was it responsible for the novel‟s success?
2. What drawbacks of interviews have been pointed out by Lewis Carrol?
3. Explain Eco’s theory of interstices.
4. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
5. What are some of the positive views on interviews?
6. What make Rudyard Kipling condemn being interviewed?
7. What is the irony in Eco’s statement, „I am a professor who writes novels on Sundays?‟
8. What does Saul Bellow mean by saying that „interviews were thumbprints on his windpipe?‟
9. How does Eco balance his botheration of being overshadowed by the fame of a novelist?
10. Why does Eco admit that the reason behind the success of the Name of the Rose was a
‘mystery?’