THE INTERVIEW - Christopher Silvester

The chapter tells us that an interview can make a lasting impression. Moreover, as per an old saying,
when we make perceptions about a particular person, the original identity of their soul is taken away. We
learn how the most popular celebrities have criticized interviews.
The chapter starts with the author introducing us to the method of an interview. We learn that it is
pretty common in journalism and its origin dates back to 130 years before. He expresses that unsurprisingly,
various people carry different opinions about the concept of the interview and its uses. Some people think of
it very highly while others cannot bear giving an interview. The chapter tells us that an interview can make a
lasting impression. Moreover, as per an old saying, when we make perceptions about a particular person, the
original identity of their soul is taken away.
We learn how the most popular celebrities have criticized interviews. Similarly, Rudyard Kipling’s
wife writes in her diary about how two reporters in Boston ruined her. He thinks of interviewing as an
assault. Moreover, he even believes that this crime should have a punishment. Further, Kipling is of the
thinking that no respectable person asks for or gives an interview.
Moreover, this chapter also contains an excerpt from an interview between Mukund, belonging to “The
Hindu” Newspaper and Umberto Eco. Eco is a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. He has a
daunting status as a scholar for his philosophies on semiotics (the study of signs), literary interpretation, and
medieval aesthetics before taking up writing fiction. In the interview, we see it centers on his successful
novel, “The Name of the Rose”. His novel sold more than 10 million copies. Mukund begins by asking him
how he manages to do such different things. Umberto replies saying he is doing the same thing. Further, he
goes on to justify his books that revolve around peace and non-violence.
We learn that Umberto classifies himself as an academic scholar. He attends various academic
conferences throughout the week and writes novels on Sundays. Moreover, he expresses that others
considering him as a novelist and not a scholar does not affect him at all. He agrees it is rather tough to
influence millions of people with academic work. Moreover, we also learn how he believes that our lives
have empty spaces like the ones in atoms. He refers to them as interstices and admits that he does most of
his productive work in the course of that time. Speaking about his novel, he remarks that it is not an easy
read. It has got a detective feature to it alongside metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Similarly, he
thinks that if he wrote the novel ten years earlier or later, it would not have achieved the same success. Thus,
the reason for the success of the novel remains a mystery.
POINTS TO REMEMBER – The Interview -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.
SOLVED QUESTIONS
1) What are the different views about interviews?
ANS:The Interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Opinions on the functions, methods and
merits of the 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 to
interviewing as' an ordeal’. Saul Bellow describes it like thumbprints on his windpipe‘. Despite the
drawbacks, an 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
2) Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer: Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they look at interviews as an
unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel that it diminishes them. They feel that they are wounded by
interviews and lose a part of themselves. They consider interviews immoral and a crime, and an unwanted
and unwelcome interruption in their personal life.
3) What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer: Some primitive cultures consider taking a photographic portrait is like stealing the person’s
soul and diminishing him.
4) What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Answer: Saul Bellow once described interviews as being like ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. It means
he treated interviews as a painful experience, as something that caught him by his windpipe, squeezed him
and left indelible thumbprints on that. It also means that when the interviewer forces personal details from
his interviewee, it becomes undesirable and cruel. He felt choked.
[Link] are some of the positive views on interviews? Answer: The positive views on interviews are
that it is a medium of communication and a source of truth and information. Some even look at it as an art.
These days we know about the celebrities and others through their interviews.
[Link], according to Umberto Eco, is the one thing he does through his various pieces of writing?
Answer: According to Eco, he is always pursuing his ethical, philosophical interests which are non-
violence and peace, through his academic work, his novels and even his books for children. He uses his
spare moments constructively.
7) Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret. What is that?
Answer: Umberto Eco tells Mukund that he has a secret to reveal. He tells him that there are empty
spaces in the universe, in all the atoms. If they are removed, the universe will shrink to the size of a fist. He
calls these empty spaces interstices and he writes in these 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. Therefore, he
considers himself a scholar who writes novels on Sundays.
8) How, according to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, do scholars do in their research? How is Eco’s
approach different?
Answer: According to one of Eco’s professors in Italy, scholars made a lot of false hypotheses. They
correct them and at the end they put the conclusion. But Eco told the story of his research and included his
trials and errors. His professor allowed the publication of Eco’s dissertation as a book.
9) What did Umberto Eco learn at the age of 22 that he pursued in his novels?
Answer: At the age of 22, Umberto Eco understood that scholarly books should be written the way he
had done, that is, they should be written by telling the story of the research. He means to say that they should
have the narrative technique. That’s why he started writing novels so late—at the age of 50.
10) How did Eco start writing novels?
Answer: Eco states that he started writing novels by accident. One day, he had nothing to do, so he
started writing. He felt that novels probably satisfied his taste for narration and he produced five novels,
including the famous The Name of the Rose.
[Link] is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
 Answer: The Name of the Rose is a very serious novel. It is a detective story at one level but it also
delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Due to these reasons it was greatly received by the
[Link] reason for the huge success of the novel, according to Eco, is a mystery. Nobody can predict it.
He states that if he had written the novel ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same.
So, the time component, its narrative technique, its aspects of metaphysics, theology and medieval history,
made it a grand success.
[Link] Interview as a communication genre is here to stay. Discuss with reference to the interview with
Umberto Eco.
Answer: The interview today is a communication genre that has come to stay. Its detractors—mostly
celebrities— despise it as an intrusion into their lives. However, a good interview can be a source of truth, it
is an excellent medium of communication and in the modern world our most vivid impressions of
contemporaries are through interviews. It is through the interview that we learn about Eco’s diverse writings,
his interest in the philosophy of non-violence and peace and his ability to put every spare moment to
constructive use. At the interviewer’s prompting, he tells us why he writes scholarly works in an informal
style and how he started writing novels. We realize that he is an academician at heart. He honestly talks of
the success of his book as a mystery saying that it might •not have sold so well in another time.
[Link] does Eco find the time to write so much? ANS. 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. Therefore, he considers himself a scholar who writes novels on Sundays.
[Link] is Semiotics? How is Eco known in connection with Semiotics?
Ans:Semiotics is the study of signs. Eco is a professor of semiotics at the Bologna University, Italy, and
writes academic books on this subject.
15. What enabled Eco to acquire the equivalent of intellectual superstardom?
Ans: 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.
16. Explain Eco’s theory of interstices.
Ans:There is a lot of empty space between the nucleus and electrons in each atom and if that empty
space
is removed, the universe will be as small as a human fist. Even though this is a bit of exaggeration, Eco
wants to say that similar empty spaces are in our lives too and if we remove them we can find out a lot of
time to do more.
UNSOLVED EXTRACT BASED QUESTION
[Link] might make quite extravagant claims for it as being, in its highest form, a source of truth, and,
in its practice, an art. Others, usually celebrities who see themselves as its victims, might despise the
interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or 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. (The Interview)
i. What is the most likely reason some people consider the practice of interview to be an art?
This could be because it requires
A. fluency of words. B. sensitive and careful handling.
C. creativity and imagination. D. probing and focusing on details. 1
ii. Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with its inference.
Celebrities feel that an interview diminishes them. 1
iii. On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given
below.
(1) Celebrities don’t consent to be interviewed. (2) Interviews intrude the privacy of celebrities.
A. (1) Can be inferred from the extract but (2) cannot.
B. (1) cannot be inferred from the extract but (2) can.
C. (1) is true but (2) is false. D. (2) is the reason for (1). 1
iv. Rationalise, to support the given opinion: To say that an interview, in its highest form, is a source of
truth, is an extravagant claim. 1
v. Replace the underlined word with its antonym from the extract. Some celebrities hate the idea of
having to give an interview because it makes them feel like supporters. 1
vi. The author’s views on interview, in the extract, can best be described as statements based on …
A. facts B. hypothesis C. beliefs D. Superstitions
[Link] Bellow, who has consented to be interviewed on several occasions, nevertheless once described
interviews as being like thumbprints on his windpipe. 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.” (The Interview I)
i Completely the following appropriately.
Saul Bellow's comparison of interviews to "thumbprints on his windpipe”, implies ……1
ii What is complex and multifaceted about the dual nature of the interview process? 1
iii Select the option that DOES NOT correspond with the view that an interview is “a supremely
serviceable medium of communication”.
A. highly effective B. a tool for training C. versatile D. impactful 1
iv How do interviews play a vital role in helping shape public perceptions? 1
v Complete the following appropriately. The phrase 'everything of moment’ refers to . 1
vi List ONE possible reason for the ‘unprecedented' power of interviewer.
3. So it is hardly surprising that opinions of the interview --- of its functions, methods and merits ---
vary considerably. Some might make quite extravagant claims for it as being, in its highest form, a source of
truth, and, in its practice, an art. Others, usually celebrities who see themselves as its victims, might despise
the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or 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, the creator of Alice in Wonderland, was said to have had 'a just horror of the
interviewer' and he never consented to be interviewed. (The Interview: Part I)
i Identify any one contrast in the extract and explain it in one sentence in your own words. 1
ii Based on V. S. Naipaul's quote, we can say that interviews __________.
A. are forced upon people B. are physically violent in nature
C. can build hostility and hatred D. can be a traumatic experience 1
iii What is common between how celebrities feel about interviews and how primitive cultures viewed
photographic portraits?
iv Which of these uses 'just' in the same way as the following expression in the extract? 'a just horror of
the interviewer'
A. The just decision in the case against the criminal will empower us.
B. I just need to buy one pencil so we can go shopping tomorrow.
C. We will get back to you on this query in just a moment.
D. The little girl looks just like her mother. 1
v What makes an interview 'a source of truth'? State any one feature. 1
vi Complete the given sentence appropriately. The author of the extract has a/an __________ tone
while describing the interview.
IV .Not everyone can do that of [Link] non fictional writing,your scholarly work has a certain
playful and personal quality about [Link] is a marked departure from a regular academic style.
[Link] the speaker of the above lines?
(a)Christopher (b)Umberto (c)David Lodge (d)Mukund Padmanabhan
[Link] is he talking to?
(a)A famous actor (b)A famous director (c)A famous writer (d)A famous editor
[Link]’s regular academic style is………………
(a)dull (b)drab (c)depersonalized (d)all of these
[Link] has followed……………….in his doctoral dissertation
(a)narrative and experimental (b)fictional (d)descriptive (d)factual
[Link] facts are being showcased in the interview held between Eco and Padmanabhan?
 (a)He takes pride in being an academician,a University Professor first.
(b)Being a novelist is a Secondary thing for him.
(c)He uses his free time for writing novels. (d)All these.
[Link] many novels has Umberto written?
(a)10 (b)8 (c)15 (d)5
[Link] I give the impression of doing many [Link] in the end,I am convinced I am always doing
the same thing...And then I have a secret. Did you know what will happen if you eliminate the empty spaces
from the Universe,eliminate the empty spaces in all the atoms?The Universe will become as big as my
[Link] we have a lot of empty spaces in our lives.I call them [Link] you are coming over to
my place. You are in an elevator and while you are coming up,I am waiting for [Link] is an interstice,an
empty space.I work in empty spaces.
[Link] the option that correctly describes the given questions
(i)If you are always doing the same thing isn’t your work lacking in originality?
(ii)Could you elaborate on these larger ethical philosophical interests that inform your work?
(iii)All writing happens in empty spaces. In fact,why don’t I tell you all about my experiences?
(a)(i)is not relevant;(ii)is appropriate and (iii)is unnecessary
(b)(i) is appropriate(ii) is repetitive and (iii) is useful information
(c)(i) is inappropriate (ii) is relevant and (iii) is not relevant
(d)(i)is unnecessary (ii)is intrusive and (iii) is extrapolatory
[Link] of the following may not be an appropriate title to the above extract?
(a)empty spaces of umberto eco (b)big expose:Ecos Secret Revealed
©I am always doing the same thing (d)Umberto Eco,Mr Prolific
3. I work in empty spaces .Choose the correct option that captures Ecos idea of empty spaces.
(i)Management of time (ii)Organisation of space (iii)Philosophical inclination
(iv)Command of thought
(a)options (i) & (ii) (b)options (iii) and (iv) ©options (i) & (iii) (d)options (ii) and (iv)
[Link] the literary device that best describes what Eco does with the concepts of emoty spaces and
waiting.
(a)juxtaposition (b)irony ©oxymoron (d)symbolism
[Link] period of history do Umbertos novels deal with?
(a) Renaissance (b)Dark age (c)Modern era (d)Medieval period
[Link] did Umberto start writing novels?
(a)to avail an opportunity (b)to be in limelight (c)to share his views
(d)to make best use of empty spaces means free time
UNSOLVED SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. Umberto Eco, with reference to "The Name of the Rose" says, “I think if I had written The Name of
the Rose ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same.” What could he have meant?
(The Interview)
2‘Interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication’. Validate this statement with reference to
“The Interview”.
3) How does Umberto Eco pursue his philosophical and academic interests? How does he make use of
‘interstices? How has he developed a non-fictional style?