The Interview

Introduction
The Interview by Christopher Silvester is an excerpt taken from his Penguin Book of interviews.
In this, 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 infamous writer
Umberto Eco.
Theme of the Lesson
The interview has two stories. In story one the narrator tells us about the reaction and views
of celebrities towards an interview. Most of the famous personalities find them to intrude on
their personal lives and some have never given an interview all their life. The story has the
theme of how the freedom of the press can curtail an individual’s privacy.

The second story is a part of an interview of the famous writer and academician Umberto
Eco. In this story we get to know the various qualities of time management used by the famous
writer. These help him gather so many feathers in his hat. He gives the details of the various
aspects which contribute to a person’s success.
Overview
The Interview by Christopher Silvester is a selection taken from his Penguin Book of meetings.
In this, he discusses different assessments of famous people with respect to a meeting, its
capacities, strategies, and benefits. It additionally comprises an extract from a meeting with
the scandalous essayist Umberto Eco. 'The Interview' is a lecture from Umberto Eco. The
questioner is Mukund Padmanabhan from 'The HINDU.' A great many famous people have
been met throughout the long term. Our generally distinctive impressions about
contemporary superstars are through meetings. For some of them, interviews are
inappropriate interruptions in their lives.
Theme
Part I offers us two differentiating thoughts about meetings, their capacities, benefits, and
strategies. It likewise informs us concerning the significance of meeting as a mechanism of
discussion. Our most distinctive impressions of our peers are through meetings. Along these
lines, the questioner holds a place of intensity. Part II is a lecture from a meeting of Umberto
Eco. The meeting shows the thinker, academician, and writer.

Introduction to The Interview

The Interview starts with the prologue to meet as ordinary reporting since its innovation,
which was barely 130 years prior. As indicated by the creator, it isn't astonishing that
individuals have unmistakable sentiments about the use of meetings. A meeting has an
enduring effect, and as indicated by a well-known adage, when discernments are made about
someone, in particular, the first character of his spirit gets taken. Acclaimed VIPs, scholars, and
specialists have been heard censuring interviews. Rudyard Kipling's better half wrote how two
columnists demolished their day in Boston in her journal. Kipling considers meeting an attack,
wrongdoing that ought to draw in the discipline. He accepts that a good man could never ask
or give a meeting.
Summary of the Interview
The Interview Summary Part I
Meetings are typical nowadays. The individuals who see meets emphatically think of them as
a wellspring of truth and workmanship. Among the antagonistic perspectives on interviews is
the supposition that they are an undesirable, unjustifiable, and superfluous interruption and
attack into a man's private life; they leave individuals injured and destroyed. There are some
who have even portrayed meetings as an experience and a thumbprint on their windpipe.

Yet, in the advanced world, interviews are a remarkably workable vehicle of correspondence
and help to make impressions of our peers. The questioner holds a ground-breaking position
and impact.

The Interview Summary Part II

It is a passage from a meeting of Prof. Umberto Eco. In his meeting with Mukund
Padmanabhan, Umberto discusses his inclinations, his style, and the accomplishment of The
Name of the Rose. He says that his central advantages are philosophical and moral, and these
are likewise the prevailing subjects of his scholastic work and books. Indeed, even his books
for youngsters are about peacefulness and harmony.

He says that there is a perky and individual quality in his works, which is an embraced one. He
found his style when he presented his doctoral theory. His theory recounted an account of his
examination, his preliminaries, and blunders. He, at that point, created his preference for
portrayal. Henceforth his scholarly works are not dry and exhausting.

He explains how he uses even the briefest holes in the middle of two unique bits of errand
that give others a fallacious impression that he is doing endless things. He calls these holes'
interstices'. Working during these interstices makes him do some incredible things.

The Name of the Rose was a splendid achievement and brought him awesome popularity. Its
prosperity might be a direct result of the troublesome understanding experience and
interpretative perusing that is offered to the peruser who didn't generally look for simple
understanding encounters.
Conclusion of The Interview
The exposition is a concentrate from the Introduction to The Penguin Book of Interviews. It
examines the meeting as a correspondence type that has come to remain. The conclusion of
The Interview includes the views from the point of journalism and the stars and their insight
into the part of their lives.
he Interview Important Questions
1. Answer each of the following questions in about 30-40 words:
Question 1.
Why did Umberto Eco prefer himself to be called an academician than a novelist?
Answer:
Despite achieving fame as a novelist, Eco preferred to associate himself with the academic
community because his non-fictional work occupied him for the first fifty years of his life. He
wrote his first novel at the age of around fifty. He identified himself more with the academic
community and resorts to writing fiction only when he’was not pursuing some scholarly
work.
Question 2.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Or
What are the views of writers like V.S. Naipaul and Lewis Carroll on interviews?
Answer:
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.
Question 3.
What was unique and distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Or
What do you learn about Umberto Eco’s distinctive style in his doctoral dissertation?
Answer:
Umberto Eco’s academic writing style is personal, informal and playful. He fills his research
stories with all the trials and errors so that even his research work has the uniqueness. of
creative writing and reading. It is not only informative but also interesting.
Question 4.
State the reason for the huge success of the novel, “The Name of the Rose”.
Answer:
There is no one reason for the huge success of the novel “The Name of the Rose’. Umberto
Eco himself calls its success a mystery. It is possible that this detective story that delved into
metaphysics, theology and medieval history, interested the readers because the time in
which it was written was most appropriate, neither a decade earlier nor a decade later.
Question 5.
“The Name of the Rose” deals with medieval history. Was it responsible for the novel’s
success?
Answer:
The success of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ did not depend on merely one factor. Many
other novels dealt with medieval history but did not achieve much success. Its success is
more attributed to the timing of its publication, its narrative style and detective yarn and
also the fact that it delves into metaphysics and theology along with medieval history.
Question 6.
What did the publisher think of ‘The Name of the Rose’?
Answer:
The American publisher of ‘The Name of the Rose’ loved and liked the novel but did not
expect to sell more than 3,000 copies. No one goes to a cathedral or studies Latin in America
so it was really difficult to sell such a novel there. But the publisher was proved wrong as
two to three million copies of the novel were sold in America.
Question 7.
What drawbacks of interviews have been pointed out by Lewis Carrol?
Answer:
Lewis Carrol considers interviews as an ‘unwarranted intrusion’ that is immoral and an
offence against his person. He shunned interviews for fear of being projected as larger than
life. His vehement refusal for interviews
enabled him to keep his fans as well as interviews at an arm’s length.
Question 8.
Why do most celebrity writers hate to be interviewed?
Answer:
Most of the celebrity writers shun interviews as they feel that interviews leave a disparaging
effect on their personalities. They consider them as an encroachment on their privacy.
Writers like V.S. Naipaul feel they are being wounded by interviews and thus losing a part of
themselves.
Question 9.
How did Lewis Carroll react to the interviews?
Or
What was Lewis Carroll’s attitude towards being interviewed?
Answer:
Lewis Carrol shunned interviews for the fear of being projected as larger than life. He
vehemently refused to give interviews and kept his fans, acquaintances and interviewers at
an arm’s length. This gives him a great sense of satisfaction.
2. Answer each of the following questions in about 125-150 words.
Question 10.
What made the American publisher think that the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ won’t sell in
America? What actually happened? What was the secret of its success?
Or
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel “The Name of the Rose” according to
Umberto Eco?
Answer:
The American publisher believed that people like trash whereas ‘The Name of the Rose’
delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history and people do not like these difficult
reading experiences. Through his novel, which sold between 10 to 15 million copies,
Umberto Eco reached only a small percentage of readers. But, according to him, it is those
kinds of readers who do not want easy experiences, or at least, do not always want this.
Umberto Eco cannot categorically state the reason for the huge success of the novel, ‘The
Name of the Rose’. He himself refers to its success as a mystery. He feels this detective story
that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history interested the readers as it was
written at the most appropriate time. Had it been written a decade earlier or later, it would
not have been so successful. The way the book stormed the literary world, once it was out,
surprised everyone. Even though it contained somewhat heavy reading, the book attracted a
mass audience and Eco became famous as a novelist, rather than an academic scholar the
world over.
Question 11.
What do you think about Umberto Eco? Does he like being interviewed? Give reasons in
support of your answer from the text ‘The Interview’.
Answer:
Unlike various other celebrities who express a strong dislike for interviews and consider it an
encroachment upon their privacy, Umberto Eco seems to kind of enjoy giving interviews
considering the spirited manner in which he answers the questions put forth to him by the
interviewer, Mukund Padmanabhan. Eco readily and truthfully answers all the questions in
the most humble and sincere manner, delving into details, thus revealing the fact that he
actually does not mind sharing his experiences with others. At no point does he display any
kind of haste to wind up the interview. In fact, he explicitly answers all the questions that
Padmanabhan asks him giving the interviewer a feeling of warmth and being welcome.
Question 12.
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 non-fictions 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.
Question 13.
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 depersonalised, 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.
Question 14.
Eco’s academic work has certain playful and personal quality about it. Comment.
Answer:
Eco presents his arguments very logically and with a subtle wit and playfulness to it. He
himself says that he started writing novels by accident. He essentially considers himself a
university professor who wrote novels on Sunday. This non-fictional writing is a marked
departure from the regular depersonalised style which is often dry and boring. Even his
research work has the quality of creative writing and makes not only information but also
interesting reading. In his doctoral dissertation, Eco tells the story of his research including
his trials and errors. His: essays too always have a narrative aspect.
Question 15.
Umberto Eco is an academic as well as a famous novelist. Comment.
Answer:
Despite getting famous as a novelist, Umberto Eco always associated himself with the
academic community. He has written only five novels as compared to the forty scholarly
works of non-fiction. He considers himself as a university professor who writes novels on
Sundays. When he presented his first Doctoral dissertation in Italy, one of the professors was
impressed by the way he told the story of his research, including his trials and errors. His
essays always have a narrative aspect. He started writing novels quite late, at the age of 50,
by accident to satisfy his taste for narration.
Question 16.
Why do some celebrity writers not like being interviewed?
Answer:
Some celebrities see themselves as victims, and despise the interview as an unwarranted
intrusion into their lives. They feel that it somehow diminishes them, just as in some
primitive cultures it is believed that ‘if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then
one is stealing that person’s soul’. V.S. Naipaul feels that ‘some people are wounded by
interviews and lose a part of themselves’. Lewis Carroll says that he has ‘just a horror for the
interviewer’ and he never consented to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling expressed an even
more condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. His wife reports her husband as
saying that he considered an interview as a crime and immoral and thus it merits
punishment.