The Interview-Question
and answers
Q.1. Describe opinions for and against the interview as are given in
the lesson.
Or
Why do the celebrities despise and condemn
‘interview’? Describe their viewpoint.
Ans: An interview is formal meeting,
interaction or a kind of discussion with some one. In
other sense it is a kind of conversation which aims at obtaining information.
In actual practice the interview has become an indispensable feature of
journalism today. Some call it a great art. In the same way the celebrities,
criminals and victims are interviewed. In case an incident involves a
celebrity, the media immediately rush to him for interaction. Most often the
celebrities do not like to face the interviewer since it is like the stealing
of one’s soul. It even makes them feel that it somehow diminishes them.
In the words of Nobel laureate, V.S. Naipaul, “Some
people are wounded buy interviews and lose a part of them”. They feel a part of
their personalities stolen. Lewis Carroll, the author of ‘Alice in Wonderland’
was said to have had a just horror of the interviewer and he never consented to
be interviewed. Caroline, the wife of Rudyard Kipling, went on saying that an
interview is vile, crime and all offence. No respectable person would ask it,
much less give it. On the other hand H.G. Wells referred it to be an
interviewing ordeal. Nobel laureate Saul Bellow took it like thumb-prints on
his windpipe.” Thus most of the celebrities do not find favour with interview
but the interviewer hold a position of great power and influence.
Q.2. How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Ans: David Lodge was a famous English novelist.
He was much amazed how Umberto Eco could do all the things he did. Mukund Padmanabhan put the same
question to Eco of writing scholarly works and the novels simultaneously. Eco
answered very modestly. Revealing his secret, Eco remarked that he was always
doing the same thing. Eco pointed out that he had some philosophical interests.
Eco tells that’s there are empty spaces in the
universe. In the same way there are empty spaces in the lives of us all. 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
would write during his arrival. Till the person arrives, he has already written
an article. Thus by utilizing these empty spaces he finds time to write so
much. Mukund is much amazed at his dexterity.
Q.3.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. The interviewer holds position of unprecedented power
and influence.
Q.4.Why does
some of the celebrities think the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into
their live?
Or
Why do most
celebrities despise being interviewed?
Ans: Most of the celebrities do not like to
be interviewed at all. They consider it as an ‘unwarranted intrusion’ into
their lives. According to V.S. Naipaul that a man loses a
part of himself during an interview. Rudyard Kipling has more
condemnatory attitude about the interviewer. He called the interview to be
immoral, a crime, cowardly or vile.
Q.5. What is the secret of Umberto Eco’s working style?
Ans: He talks there are empty spaces in the lives
of us all. 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 utilises these intervals for his creative work.
Q.6.Did Eco
consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Ans: In his interview with Mukund, Eco states, “I am a professor who writes on
Sundays. I participate in academic conferences and not at the meeting of pen
clubs and writers. I identify myself with the academic community. I became a
novelist only by an accident.”
Q.7.“The Name of the Rose” deals with medieval history. Was it
responsible for the novel’s success?
Ans: Mukund tells
Eco that “The Name of the Rose” got a huge success because of its medieval
background. Eco did not seem to agree with it. A lot of books have been written
about the medieval past much before him and they did not get much success.
Perhaps his novel was written at the most appropriate time.
Q.8. What is the concept of ‘interstices’ as declared by Umberto
Eco?
ANS.According to Umberto Eco ‘interstices’ are the empty spaces in our
lives. We should make the best use of
these empty spaces. He means to say that we should not waste our free time. It
must be utilized for some creative works.
Q.9. What do you understand by the expression’ thumbprints on his
windpipe’?
ANS.Saul
Bellow has described interview as being ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. If
somebody presses our throat, our windpipe is choked and we can
not breathe properly. Similarly, he felt choked and suffocated during
the interviews which made him difficult to breathe.
Q.10. How does Rudyard Kipling condemn an Interview?
ANS. According to Rudyard Kipling
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 interview.
Q.11. What are the distinguishing features of the novel by Umberto
Eco entitled ‘The Name of the Rose’.
ANS.‘The Name of the Rose’ is a very serious novel. It is a detective
yarn. It is a novel in which there is
the taste of religion, metaphysics, and medieval history.
Q.12. Why, according to
Umberto Eco, were the journalists puzzled at the
popularity of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’?
ANS.According to Umberto Eco the journalists were puzzled because journalists
believed that people liked the writings of poor quality. They thought that
difficult reading experiences were not liked by people. But they were wrong.
The novel was liked by millions of people even if it had difficult experiences.
Q.13. What was distinctive about Umberto Eco’s writing style?
ANS.Umberto Eco writes in a playful manner. There is a personal touch in all
the non- fictional works done by him. The best quality of his writing is that
his essays have narrative aspect. It means he writes as if he is telling a
story.
Q.14. Why does
Umberto Eco regard the success and popularity of the novel ‘The Name of the
Rose’ as a mystery?
ANS.Umberto Eco believes that the success of the popularity and huge success of
the novel can not be predicted. It was written at the
right time. If he had written the same novel ten years earlier or ten years
later it would have been failed. Its success is a mystery.
Q.15. Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
ANS. Most celebrity writers
despise (hate) being interviewed because they think it to be an undue
interference in their private lives. Rudyard Kipling calls it immoral, vile and
a crime. V. S. Naipaul feels that it hurts our feelings. H.G. Wells calls it an
‘Ordeal ’.It makes difficult to breathe when we are being interviewed.
Q.16. How does
Umberto Eco compare himself as an academician and as a novelist?
ANS.Umberto Eco says that as an academician he simply writes about his
philosophical interests. He works in empty spaces. His style of writing is
personal, playful and narrative. On the other hand, he writes novels on
Sundays. He mixes the tastes of all types of people in his novels.
Q.17. 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 very good medium of communication. We can get information about
our contemporaries through interview. Impressions are formed and selections are
made on the basis of interviews.
Q.18. Why did Lewis
Carroll grudge interviews?
ANS. Lewis Carroll grudges the interviews because he thinks it to be ‘a
horror’. He did not want to be treated as an important person.