Prose Chapter 7 - The Interview

The Interview was written by Christopher Silvester. This chapter has been extracted from his Penguin Book of Interviews. Here, Christopher talks about the opinions of celebrity stars about the various interviews that they had to give to reach where they are right now. He ponders upon the functions, methods and the merits of interviews.

Summary

The prose starts with an introduction to how an interview is a popular place of journalism since the time it was invented. The author of this book is not surprised by the fact that most people have different verdicts about the usage of the Interview.

Some people uphold interviews as something extravagant and as a source of truth. In contrast, others despise the thought of being interviewed and feel that it is an unwanted interference in their life.

An interview leaves an impression on your employees about you. There is an old saying, “When perceptions are created about a person, the original identity of that individual is robbed”. Renowned people, celebrities, artists, and writers have criticised interviews on several occasions. Rudyard Kipling expressed a condemnatory attitude towards interviews and interviewers. His wife wrote in her diary how one day when they were in Boston, their day was wrecked by two interviewers. Rudyard Kipling refused to be interviewed as he felt it was immoral, a crime and he felt assaulted. He described it as “cowardly and vile”. Yet a few years ago Kipling himself had committed this “assault” on Mark Twain.

There is an extract from the interview that took place between the interviewer from The Hindu Newspaper Mukund Padmanabhan and Umberto Eco, who is a professor from the University of Bologna in Italy. Before Umberto became a writer of fiction, he already had a firm reputation as a scholar for his study of signs (semiotics), medieval aesthetics, and literary interpretations. The interview that was conducted centred around the success of his novel ‘The Name of The Rose.’ Around ten million copies were sold in the market. Mukund starts the interview by asking him how he managed to do so many distinct things, and he replied that he is currently doing the same thing. He further went on to explain and state that his books are about peace and non-violence, which is a reflection of his philosophical beliefs as well as interests.

During the week Umberto attended an academic conference, and on Sunday, he wrote his novels. He identifies himself as an academic scholar. Umberto Eco is not bothered by the fact that people recognise him as a novelist and not as a scholar. He goes to explain that he knows that it is a difficult task to connect with millions of people with his scholarly work. Eco believes that an individual has empty spaces in their life just as there are empty spaces in the Universe.

The interview then shifts to his novel, and Umberto mentions that it is not easy to comprehend it. It contains theology, medieval history, and metaphysics and also includes a bit of a detective’s yarn. The reason behind the success of his novel remains a mystery as Umberto believes that if the book were written ten years ago, then it would not have achieved the massive success it has received now.

For English Flamingo class 12, chapter 7, The Interview Class 12, you can refer to The Interview Class 12 Questions and Answers.