THE INTERVIEW- By Christopher Silvester
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
to give 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 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.
Conclusion of The Interview
To sum up, The Interview summary, we learn how many people differ when it comes to
interviews, nonetheless, they are very interesting and informative as seen from
Umberto’s interview.
The Interview Question and Answers
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 the Universe. He terms these empty spaces as
‘interstices’. If he is waiting for someone to come to his house via the escalator, he
would use that time to write an essay rather than sit idly. Therefore, 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 a 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 the audience.
5. 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 o
pursue various activities: writing notes for newspapers, novels, teaching, writing
essays, children’s books etc.
6. 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.
Extract Based Question
Rudyard Kipling expressed an even more condemnatory attitude towards the
interviewer. His wife, Caroline, writes in her diary for 14 October 1892 that their day
was ‘wrecked by two reporters from Boston’. She reports her husband as saying to
the reporters, “Why do I refuse to be interviewed? Because it is immoral! It is a crime
just as much of a crime as an offense against my person, as an assault, and just as
much merits punishment. It is cowardly and vile.
a. How is Caroline associated with Rudyard Kipling?
i. Husband
ii. Wife
iii. Mother
iv. Father
b. What was Caroline’s view about being interviewed?
i. She thought it is immoral
ii. She thought it is crime
iii. She thought it deserves punishment
iv. All of these
c. What does the word ‘vile’ mean?
i. Despicable
ii. Slimy
iii. Ugly
iv. All of these
d. Who of the following ruined Caroline’s day?
i. News anchors
ii. News reporters
iii. News readers
iv. News makers