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The Interview Summary

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533 views3 pages

The Interview Summary

Uploaded by

anaishagarg254
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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.
Top
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.
Top
The Interview 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 criticising 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.
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.
Top
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 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.
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 the
audience.

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