The Interview By Christopher Silvester

The Interview

By Christopher Silvester

Image Reference: christophersilvester.com

About the Author

Christopher Silvester is a freelance journalist, author, and consultant who writes for several UK newspaper and magazine publications. He was born in London in 1959 and studied history at the University of Cambridge. He worked for many years as a reporter for the magazine Private Eye and has written for various American publications, including Spy, The New York Observer, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. He is also the editor of The Norton Book of Interviews. He currently writes obituaries for The Times (of London), book reviews for the Financial Times and features for Newsweek. Since 1996 he has probably written more obituaries for The Times than any other person. Since May 2013 he has been a media relations adviser to Olyvia Kwok. Presently he is living in London.

Introduction

The writer reveals the basic facts and importance of an interview as he himself was a reporter for a private eye for ten years and during his career, he interviewed a lot of celebrities and found both negative and positive opinions about an interview. He experienced that most of the celebrities found interview an unnecessary intrusion in their lives. But the writer opines that interviewing is a very important and reliable source of information.

Summary

Part – I

In this chapter, the writer talks about the pros and cons of the interview. It is an important part of journalism. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years. Today, every literate person will have read an interview at some point in their lives.


Some people consider ‘interview’ a reliable source of truth whereas most of the celebrities see it as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. V.S. Naipul feels that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves. Lewis Carroll, the creator of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ never consented to be interviewed and had ‘a just horror of the interviewer’. Rudyard Kipling had a 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. Even they considered interview as a crime and assault. Some of them feel that it diminishes them. Saul Bellow, though consented to be interviewed on several occasions, once described interviews as being like thumbprints on his windpipe. Despite all these drawbacks, the interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. We get the most vivid impressions of our contemporaries through interviews.

Part – II

It is an extract of an interview of Umberto Eco, taken by ‘Mukund Padmanabhan’ from ‘The Hindu’. Umberto Eco was a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. He had expertise in Semiotics (the study of signs), literary fictions, academic texts, newspaper articles, and many others. Mukund interviewed about Umberto’s versatility of managing too many things. Umberto revealed the mystery and answered that he had discovered the way to use the empty spaces in his life. He could use every single moment of his time. He had perfected the art of writing in a narrative style but applied it at about the age of fifty. Accidentally he became a novelist after moving from an essayist. He was more interested in academics rather than the novels, so always considered himself as an academician and denoted only Sundays for writing novels. Mukund also questioned the serious theme of his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ that was widely appreciated and more than 10 million copies of this novel were sold all over the world. It contained a detective surface but delved into theology, metaphysics and medieval history. He had no point of amazement about the category of the readers. He was never sure about its remarkable success. He assumed its huge success as a mystery that couldn’t be unfolded.

Part – I: Short Answer-Type Questions

Q1. In what way have the interviews become a common place of journalism?

Ans. 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.


Q2. List some of the positive views on interviews.


Ans. Interviews have many positive aspects. It is an art and a source of truth. It is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. We can get information about our contemporaries through interviews.


Q3. Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Ans. They feel that it is an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They also feel that the interview diminishes them.


Q4. What is the belief in some of the primitive culture about being photographed?

Ans. Some primitive cultures believe that it is like stealing someone’s soul.


Q5. How does Rudyard Kipling condemn an Interview?

Ans. According to Rudyard Kipling, the 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 an interview.


Q6. What do you understand by the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’?


Ans. Saul Bellow has described the 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.


Q7. How did Lewis Carroll react to the interviews?


Ans. Lewis Carrol had a horror of the interviewer and he never consented to give an interview. He feared that an interview lionized a person and thus he kept himself away from acquaintances and persistent autograph-seekers.


Q8. Why did Rudyard Kipling refuse to be interviewed?


Ans. Rudyard Kipling refused to give interviews because he considered the interview immoral and a crime. He felt, it was an assault and merited punishment. In his opinion, no respectable man would ever give an interview.

Part – II: Short Answer-Type Questions

Q1. “I am convinced that I am always doing the same thing,” says Eco. How does he explain it?


Ans. Eco says that he gives the impression of doing many things but he is doing the same things over and over again. He explains by saying that he has some philosophical interests which he pursues through his academic work and writing novels but even the books for children that he writes reflect the same bunch of ethical and philosophical interests.


Q2. What secret does Umberto Eco reveal about his time management?

Ans. Umberto Eco reveals that there are a lot of empty spaces which he called interstices. He explains that he writes in snatches of time and makes use of Sundays to do his creative writings. He feels that time can be managed well to pursue your creative work.


Q3. What is the secret of Umberto Eco’s working style?

Ans. Eco says there are empty spaces in our lives. 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 utilizes these intervals for his creative work.


Q4. Why was Umberto Eco’s friend Roland Bathers frustrated?


Ans. He 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.


Q5. Eco’s ‘written output is staggeringly large and wide-ranging’. Explain.
Ans. Eco’s scholarly works were staggeringly large and wide-ranging. He had a taste for narration and this lent an informal touch to his essays and novels. It made his style lively and reading his works was never boring or dry making it wide-ranging.


Q6. Umberto Eco is an academician as well as a famous novelist. Comment.

Ans. Umberto Eco identified himself more with the academic community. In fact, he was quite unhappy if people referred to him as a novelist. He used to state that he was a professor who wrote novels on Sundays.


Q7. What do you think were the distinguishing features of his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’?


Ans. It is a serious novel. Though it has a detective yarn on one level. It also delves deep into metaphysics, theology and medieval history.


Q8. What did the publisher think of ‘The Name of the Rose’?


Ans. The publisher was quite puzzled by the unprecedented success of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’. They believed that it was an unexpected happening as it was serious work and people liked to read trash and not one of those books that have very difficult reading experiences.


Q9. What is the reason for the huge success of ‘The Name of the Rose’?

Ans. The author never expected the huge success of his novel “The Name of the Rose”. He stated that the timings when the book got released were a factor contributing to its grand success. He felt that if he had written the novel ten years later or earlier, it wouldn’t have been the same. Perhaps it was written at the most appropriate time. Despite all that the reason for its huge success is still a mystery.

Long Answer-Type Questions

Q1. Despite the drawbacks of an interview, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. Highlight the importance, drawbacks and positive aspects of interviews.
Ans. The interview has become the commonplace of journalism. Opinions about the interview, its functions, methods, and merits vary considerably. Some say that it is a source of truth and some claim it is an art. Celebrities think of themselves as the victims of interviews despite being interviewed several times. Lewis Carrol was said to have had a horror of the interviewer. Rudyard Kipling thought that it was immoral and crime to take interviews. Saul Bellow who had consented to be interviewed on several occasions described the interview as being like thumbprints on his windpipe.


Despite the drawbacks, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. Denise Brian has written that almost everything of the moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another. We can get information about our contemporaries through interviews.


Q2. Did Umberto Eco consider himself as a novelist first or an academic scholar?


Ans. 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 write fiction he had a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics (the 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.


Q3. What impression do you form about Umberto Eco as a scholar and writer?

Ans. Umberto Eco as we gather on the basis of “The Interview” was an academician who wrote novels on Sundays. He said that he was not a novelist, but the novel fulfilled his desire for narration. Writing enabled him to reach a larger audience. His creative ideas flow in his mind every time. Though he relaxes on Sundays, yet he remains busy writing novels. On other days, he occupies himself with his academic Work. His novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ became an instant success because of the timing around which it was released. He himself admitted that the success of the book remained a mystery to him too, it might not have sold so well at another time.


Q4. Eco’s academic work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. Comment.
Ans. Umberto Eco is a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. He is primarily an academician and wants to be known as a scholar and not a novelist. Mukund Padmanabhan states that Eco’s scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular style. Eco was once asked if he consciously adopted an informal style, to which he cited the comments of one of the professors who had examined and evaluated his first doctoral dissertation. He had commented that Eco told the story of his research including his trials and errors. Eco understood that scholarly books should be written by telling the story of the research. His essays, therefore, had a narrative aspect. That is why he wrote novels to satisfy his taste for narratives.


Q5. What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?


Ans. The themes of Eco’s academic works and novels are chiefly dominated by his philosophy and ethics about life. His scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It’s a marked departure from a regular style. Even his writing for children deals with non- violence, and peace. This style of writing makes reading his novels and essays interesting and being like the reading of most academic writings. His works are marked by an informal and narrative aspect. His professors who examined and evaluated his first dissertation also said that he told the story of his research, too, including his trials and errors. At the age of 22, he understood that scholarly books should be written by telling the story of the research. His essays, therefore, have a narrative aspect. That is what made him write novels as it satisfied his taste for narrative.