THE INTERVIEW by Christopher Sylvester

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.
 V.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‟.
 H.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.
SHORT Q/ANSWERS
1. List some of the positive views on interviews.
Interviews have many positive aspects.
 It is an art and a source of truth.
 It is a serviceable medium of communication.
 We can get information about our contemporaries through interview
 A very important part of journalism is interview now a days.
2 Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
 Most celebrity writers see themselves as the victims of interview.
 It is an unwarranted intrusion into their lives.
 They feel that the interview diminishes them.
 (Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they have faced the fright of interview. Among them,
interview is regarded as an unwarranted entrance into their privacy.)
3. What is the belief in some of the primitive culture about being photographed?
Some primitive cultures believe that it is like stealing someone‟s soul.
4. What do you understand by the expression‟ thumbprints on his windpipe‟?
Saul Bellow has described interview as being „thumbprints on his windpipe‟. If somebody presses our throat, our
windpipe is choked and we cannot breathe properly. Similarly, he felt choked and suffocated during the interviews
5. What is the reason for the huge success of the novel “The Name of the rose”?
 it is a detective yarn
 delves into metaphysics, theology, medieval history.
 written at the right time.
 reason of success is mystery
6.In what way have the interviews become a common place of journalism?
Over the last 130 years, the interviews have become a commonplace of journalism. Almost everybody will have read
an interview at some point during their life time. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years. It is
a great serviceable medium of communication. The interviewer holds position of unprecedented power and
influence.
7. What drawbacks of interviews have been pointed out by Lewis Carrol?
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.
8. How does Rudyard Kipling condemn an Interview?
According to Rudyard Kipling interview is immoral. It is a crime. It is just like an attack on somebody. Hence, it
is punishable. He adds that it is a cowardly and unpleasant act. No respectable man should ask anybody to give
interview.
9. What was odd about Rudyard Kipling interviewing Mark Twain?
 -considers as crime , immoral
 -still interviewed Mark Twain
10. In what way does the interviewer hold a position of unprecedented power and influence over the person
interviewed?
„Despite the drawbacks of the interview, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. “These days, more than
at any other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews.” Denis Brian has written.
“Almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another. Because of this, the interviewer
holds a position of unprecedented power and influence
11.Why did Umberto Eco prefer himself to be called an academician than a novelist?
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.
12.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?
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.
13.How and when did Umberto Eco start to write novels? How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Umberto Eco started to write novels accidently at the age of 50. Then only on Sundays, he used to write the content of the
novels.
Umberto Eco uses each and every moment of time. Even he is capable to utilize the little space between different act.s. So
he calls it as usage of interstices; the management of time.
14.Why was Umberto Eco‟s writer friend Roland Bathers frustrated ?
Umberto Eco‟s writer friend Roland Bathers was always frustrated that he was an essayist and not a novelist. He
wanted to do creative writing one day or another but he died before he could do so.
15.What is the secret of Umberto Eco‟s working style?
Eco says there are empty spaces in the lives of us all. He calls these empty spaces as „interstices or intervals. He explains
his style of working in empty spaces through an example. He tells when he waits for somebody coming from the elevator
from first to the third floor, he won‟t sit idle. He utilises these intervals for his creative work.
16.What do you think were the distinguishing features of his novel „The Name of the Rose‟?
It is a serious novel .Though it has a detective yarn on one level, it also delves deep into metaphysics , theology and
medieval history .
17.Why, according to Umberto Eco, were the journalists puzzled at the popularity of the novel „The Name of the
Rose‟?
According to Umberto Eco the journalists were puzzled because journalists believed that people liked the writings of
poor quality. They thought that difficult reading experiences were not liked by people. But they were wrong. The
novel was liked by millions of people even if it had difficult experiences.
18.State the reason for the huge success of the novel, “The Name of the Rose”.
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.
19. “The Name of the Rose” deals with medieval history. Was it responsible for the novel‟s success? (2008 Delhi)
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.
20.What did the publisher think of „The Name of the Rose‟?
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.
21.How can we say that Umberto Eco had a wide range of writing?
Umberto Eco was an expertise in semiotics and other than this he started to write fiction, literary fiction, academic texts,
essays, children‟s books, newspaper articles etc. So his versatility in writings can be easily understood.
22.What was distinctive about Eco‟s academic writing style?
Eco‟s academic writing style can be said as narrative which is personalised and interesting. Ecos writing style is not dull
and boring; different from others.
23.Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Umberto Eco firstly considered himself as an academic scholar because he was a professor and wrote many academic
texts while he wrote his first novel at the age of 50 accidently.
24.Umberto Eco does many things, but says, “I am always doing the same thing but that is more difficult to
explain”. What does he mean to say?
Umberto Eco says that he has philosophical interests which reflect in all his writings : fiction and non-fiction. In this way,
he does the same thing, though he seems to pursue various activities : writing notes for newspapers, novels, teaching,
writing essays, children‟s books etc
25.Eco‟s academic work has certain playful and personal quality about it. Comment.
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 departive 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.
26.Umberto Eco is an academician as well as a famous novelist. Comment.
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.

27 . Did Umberto Eco consider himself as a novelist first or an academic scholar?

Eco considers himself as an academic scholar first as he prefers identifying himself with the academic
community .He participates in academic conferences but not in the meetings of pen Clubs and writers. Before he
turned to writing fiction he had a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics (study of signs),
literary interpretations and medieval history. Though he is happy at the overwhelming response and the tremendous
success he got for his novel “The Name of the Rose “he still prefers to be a Professor at Bologna University who
writes novels on Sundays .He started writing Novels by accident. One day when he had nothing to do he started writing
one, it was probably to satisfy his taste for narration
28.What was distinctive about Eco‟s academic writing style ?
Umberto Eco is a professor at Bologna University who has a staggeringly large and wide ranging amount of written
output to his credit. Eco has philosophical interests which he pursues through his academic works and novels. Even the
books he writes for children are about non-violence and peace, here again his philosophical and ethical interests
surface. His scholarly and non-fictional writing have a certain playful and personal quality to it. It is a marked deviation
from his regular academic style which is depersonalized and often dry and boring. He believed that scholarly books
should always be written by telling the story of the research which is why his essays always had a narrative style

LONG Q/ANSWERS
1.Do you think that Umberto Eco likes being interviewed ? Give reasons for your opinion.

After analyzing the interview extract we see that Umberto Eco does not get perturbed while being interviewed .He
is comfortable ,confident and at ease when he is being interviewed. He readily furnishes answers to the questions
asked. Moreover he elaborates on everything, volunteering more information than is required.

He candidly discusses his philosophical and academic interests, his fictional and non-fictional styles of writing and
why he considers himself a University Professor He also shares with the interviewer his secret of time
management and how he utilizes the empty spaces in his life which he called interstices and how he managed to write
such staggeringly large amount of literature.

He honestly discusses the trials and errors he faced during his first Doctoral dissertation. He gives details about his
novel “The Name of The Rose” in a systematic and methodical way .He was candid enough to admit that it was a
mystery why the novel was successful. His tone is friendly and at no point does he seem to wind up the interview.

Keeping all these factors in mind we can conclude that Umberto Eco does not consider interviewing a crime or an
offence rather it is a way of getting a clearer picture of the celebrity.
2. 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? OR Give a character sketch of Umberto Eco on the basis
of the chapter „The Interview‟.

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, childrens‟ 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.

Umberto Eco, inspite of being an academician and a famous novelist, through various interview discloses his secret of
success in life and never hates the interviewers. He has his taste in various fields of writings as academic texts, fiction and
non-fiction, literary fiction, essays, children‟s books, newspaper articles etc.

He always wanted to be called as an academician not a novelist. He used to participate in academic conferences, on the
other hand, he avoided the meetings of writers and Pen Club Members. He has written forty scholarly works and novels
only five. He used to denote time for writing novels on only „Sundays‟. He discovered a magical trick of working in
interstices.

He used to use even the seconds of his time. He captured the empty spaces for writing notes or any content. He had an
expertise in „Semiotics‟: the study of signs. He never became a slave of proud as he openely admitted that his novel „The
Name of the Rose‟ got success accidently and the time was in his favour. He didn‟t have any attitude of the celebrity
though his novel was bought by more than the 10 million of the readers.
3.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?
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 kind 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.
4.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?
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.
5.Why do some celebrity writers not like being interviewed?
There are several celebrities mentioned in this chapter like Rudyard Kipling, V.S. Naipaul, H.G. Wells, Saul Bellow and
etc. who dislike interviews very strongly. They never became ready to be interviewed. Most of them considered
interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They did not want to reveal the secrets of their personal lives.
Even an interview is considered as an immoral activity, as a crime or sometimes as an assault. They feel that the
interviewers waste their precious time which can be used by them for more creativity. On the other hand, common mass
take interviewes very positively as they come to know about the inner and hidden things of their ideals. But interviewes
have their drawbacks also.
Celebrities feel shy and disappointed when they are asked for interviewes but they forget that they become famous and
wealthy through the successful interviewes. General mass become their fan and devotee by knowing more and more about
their ideals. Celebrities are even worshipped. In this regard, it can be said that interview cannot be termed as an immoral
activity.
6. „Mukund Padmanabhan‟ was a reporter from „The Hindu‟. In the context of the chapter, reveal his traits as an
interviewer.
Mukund Padmanabhan was surely a successful and well thought-out reporter who always used to ask answerable and
dexterous questions to his interviewees. He used to plan and prepare to con-duct an interview of a celebrity. He never
asked ugly or embarrasing questions and on the other hand, the celebrity whom he interviewed always seemed to be
comfortable with his questions.

Through the inteviews, readers not only got the information about the celebrities but many other important aspects of
Mukund‟s personality also came in their knowledge. He asked brief and quality questions to his interviewees
scrupulously. He let the interviewees spoke in their own manner and never tried to interrupt or cross-questioned them.

His interviewees used to be free and frank with him. He was always a prepared interviewer. Mukund, in advance arranged
the informations and personality traits of his interviewees and then with full preparations, started his sessions. In all we
can say that Mukund Padmanabhan was a disciplined and dedicated interviewer.
 Extract Based Questions and Answers
Para-1--Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:
Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Today, almost
everybody who is literate will have read an interview at some point in their lives, while from the other point of view,
several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly. So it is hardly supervising
that opinions of the interview of its functions, methods and merits very considerably.
(a) What is an interview ? What‟s its place in journalism ? (b) What is the relation of an interview with a celebrity ?
(c) What is an interview for a literate person ? (d) Name the chapter and the writer.
Answers:
(a) An interview is a one-on-one conservation between an interviewer and an interviewee. It has a commonplace in
journalism.
(b) Though, according to the text, most of the celebrities despise from interview but several thousand times, celebrities
have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly.
(c) For a literate person, an interview is an exciting content through which he comes to know about their idols.
(d) The chapter is „The Interview‟ by „Christopher Silvester‟.
Para-2--- Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:
„Yet despite the drawbacks of the interview, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. “These days,
more than at any other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews.” Denis Brian
has written. “Almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another. Because of this,
the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.”
(a) Despite the drawbacks, what is an interview ?
(b) Through which medium, how do we get most vivid impressions of our contemporaries ?
(c) How, according to Denis Brian, almost everything of moment reaches us ?
(d) Because of interviews, what position does the inter-viewer hold ?
Answers :
(a) Despite the drawbacks, an interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.
(b) Through interviews, we get most vivid impressions of our contemporaries.
(c) According to Denis Brian, almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions to another.
(d) Because of interviews the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.
Para-3-- Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:
That‟s possible. But let me tell you another story, because I often tell stories like a Chinese wise man. My American
publisher said while she loved my book, she did n‟t expect to sell more than 3,000 copies in a country where nobody
has seen a cathedral or studies Latin. So I was given an advance for 3,000 copies, but in the end it sold two or three
million in the U.S.
A lot of books have been written about the medieval past for before mine. I think the success of the book is a mystery.
Nobody can predict it. I think if I had written „The Name of the Rose‟ ten year earlier or ten years later, it wouldn‟t
have been the same. Why it worked at that time is a mystery.
(a) What does the American publisher say to Umberto Eco ? (b) How many copies of that book were sold ?
(c) What Umberto Eco says about the success of the book? (d) What is a mystery according to Umberto Eco ?
Answers :
(a) American publisher says that in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin, sale will not more than
3,000 copies of the book.
(b) Two or three million copies of that book were sold.
(c) Umberto Eco says that the success of the book is a mystery.
(d) According to Umberto Eco, „why it worked at that time is a mystery‟. The sale and success of the book was a mystery.