The Interview By Christopher Silvester
An Overview
The chapter is in two parts.
Part I describes the diverse views that people have on interviews. While some consider it praiseworthy and
serviceable, others, especially celebrities, find it to be an intrusion of their privacy.
Part Il is an excerpt from an interview of Mr. Umberto Eco by journalist Mukund Padmanabhan from the
Hindu. He talks to Padmanabhan about his academic interests, how he uses his time effectively to write,
and the reasons for the success of his last novel.
Part I
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.
VS Naipaul writes that people lose a part of themselves in interviews, while Lewis Carol! writes of his horror
of being 'lionized' (put on a pedestal and given public attention). Rudyard Kiplings wife writes in her diary
about how two reporters in Boston ruined their day. Kipling thinks of interviewing as an assault. Moreover,
he even believes that this crime should have a punishment. Further, Kipling thinks that no respectable
person asks for or gives an interview. Yet, Kipling himself interviewed Mark Twain a few years before. Saul
Bellow thought that interviews were like 'thumbprints on his windpipe' (this signifies the discomfort and
stifling feeling one has when being interviewed. It means that they were an invasion of one's persona as
their privacy was completely compromised).
Yet, the author points out that interviews have their advantages too, as it is one of the primary ways that
we get to know about people. Thus, the interviewer holds a position of power and influence.
Part Il
Umberto 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 while he also
is a bestselling author of the popular novel The Name of the Rose.
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 that his books and academic work revolve around the
same philosophy of peace and non-violence. We learn that Umberto sees himself as an academic scholar
first and a novelist later. He attends various academic conferences throughout the week and writes novels
on Sundays.
Eco explains that our lives have empty spaces like in atoms. He refers to them as interstices and admits that
he uses these interstices to do productive work. He speaks of his love for narrative writing and how he even
wrote his dissertation in the same style. This led him to take up novel writing later..
Speaking about his novel, he remarks that it is not an easy read. It dealt with mystery; at the same time, it
also dealt with deeper subjects like metaphysics, theology, and medieval history. He believes that not all
readers want "easy reading experiences" all the time. Some like difficult and deeper reading experiences
which are perhaps why his novel was a hit. He wonders if his novel would have been such a success if he
had written it ten years earlier or later. Thus, the reason for the success of the novel remains a mystert.
An Overview
The chapter is in two parts.
Part I describes the diverse views that people have on interviews. While some consider it praiseworthy and
serviceable, others, especially celebrities, find it to be an intrusion of their privacy.
Part Il is an excerpt from an interview of Mr. Umberto Eco by journalist Mukund Padmanabhan from the
Hindu. He talks to Padmanabhan about his academic interests, how he uses his time effectively to write,
and the reasons for the success of his last novel.
Part I
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.
VS Naipaul writes that people lose a part of themselves in interviews, while Lewis Carol! writes of his horror
of being 'lionized' (put on a pedestal and given public attention). Rudyard Kiplings wife writes in her diary
about how two reporters in Boston ruined their day. Kipling thinks of interviewing as an assault. Moreover,
he even believes that this crime should have a punishment. Further, Kipling thinks that no respectable
person asks for or gives an interview. Yet, Kipling himself interviewed Mark Twain a few years before. Saul
Bellow thought that interviews were like 'thumbprints on his windpipe' (this signifies the discomfort and
stifling feeling one has when being interviewed. It means that they were an invasion of one's persona as
their privacy was completely compromised).
Yet, the author points out that interviews have their advantages too, as it is one of the primary ways that
we get to know about people. Thus, the interviewer holds a position of power and influence.
Part Il
Umberto 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 while he also
is a bestselling author of the popular novel The Name of the Rose.
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 that his books and academic work revolve around the
same philosophy of peace and non-violence. We learn that Umberto sees himself as an academic scholar
first and a novelist later. He attends various academic conferences throughout the week and writes novels
on Sundays.
Eco explains that our lives have empty spaces like in atoms. He refers to them as interstices and admits that
he uses these interstices to do productive work. He speaks of his love for narrative writing and how he even
wrote his dissertation in the same style. This led him to take up novel writing later..
Speaking about his novel, he remarks that it is not an easy read. It dealt with mystery; at the same time, it
also dealt with deeper subjects like metaphysics, theology, and medieval history. He believes that not all
readers want "easy reading experiences" all the time. Some like difficult and deeper reading experiences
which are perhaps why his novel was a hit. He wonders if his novel would have been such a success if he
had written it ten years earlier or later. Thus, the reason for the success of the novel remains a mystert.
