CUET English Chapter For Comprehension-The interview

There are varied opinions on the functions, merits and methods of the interview. Some positive views are that some might make extravagant claims for it being in its highest form, a source of truth, and in its practice, an art. It is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.

Celebrity writers despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or feel that it somehow diminishes them.

In some primitive cultures, it is believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then one is stealing that person’s soul.

Saul Bellow, a famous American novelist comments that some interviews are like thumbprints on his windpipe, meaning thereby, that sometimes the person being interviewed is made to feel very uneasy and uncomfortable during an interview.

The chief source of information about personalities in today’s world is the interview. It provides us our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries.

From the interview taken by Mukund, it is evident that Umberto Eco likes being interviewed. He replies to all his questions willingly and gives detailed views. He appears to be enjoying the interview session, because of his sincerity and cheerfulness at the time of interview.

Umberto, being a positive writer, shares a secret about his writings. He says there are a lot of empty spaces in our lives which are called interstices. He works in empty space and uses this time to write so much.

A professor has summed up by saying that Eco tells the story of his research including even his trails and errors. He never gets frustrated with his drawbacks but enjoys fully what he is. This quality makes him distinct from others.

He considered himself to be an academic scholar first. He claimed to be an academic professor who wrote novels casually, even on Sundays. He identified himself with academic community, while participating in academic conferences. He did not attend meetings of pen-clubs and writers.

‘The Name of the Rose’ is a serious detective novel which also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. It was probably written at the most appropriate time and dealt with medieval history but Eco says that the reason for its success is a mystery.

An interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. In 130 years of its existence, it has become a commonplace of journalism. Everyone, who is a literate today, will have read an interview at some part of their lives.

Lewis Carroll feared being interviewed. He never consented to granting one. It gave him great satisfaction and amusement in successfully evading interviewers and autograph seekers.

V.S Naipaul, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001, felt that some people are ‘wounded’ by interviews and lose a part of themselves.

Rudyard Kipling had a condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. He considered it immoral. He felt that it was like an assault against a person. He also felt it was cowardly and vile.

Kipling had a condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. He considered it ‘immoral’ and comparable to an assault against the person. Yet he had perpetrated such an assault on Mark Twain a few years earlier.

Denis Brian is of the view that these days our most vivid impressions about our contempories are through interviews. The interviewer holds a position of power and influence as whatever opinions we form is through the questions asked by him.

Roland Barthes was always frustrated that he was an essayist and not a novelist. He wanted to do creative writing one day or another but died before he could attempt it. Umberto Eco on the other hand, felt frustrated as his academic work had a narrative style.

After dinner Eco watches light television programmes which relax him. He says he enjoys it and also needs it. He watches ‘Miami Vice’ or ‘Emergency Room’. However, he does not enjoy them all day.

Eco started writing novels at the age of fifty. One day, he had nothing to do so he started writing a novel. He did not find it difficult because probably it satisfied his taste for narration.

Umberto Eco is popular because of his novels which are read by many people. Ten to fifteen million copies of his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ were sold. Though he has written over forty academic works, it is his novels that people associate him with.

The interview as a technique of reporting has now become so common that there is hardly anyone who may not have read any.

Today innumerable eminent personalities are interviewed each day so views on interviews differ considerably.

Celebrities consider themselves as victims and despite it as they feel that it somehow diminishes their standing. They also feel it is an unnecessary invasion of their privacy, just as in the past taking a photographic portrait was considered stealing a person’s very soul.

V.S Naipaul ‘feels that people are wounded by interviews had lose a part of themselves’. Lewis Carroll was said to have had ‘a just horror of the interviewer’ that he never consented to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling refused to be interview because it was ‘immoral’ and considered it an ‘assault’, despite having interviewed Mark Twain a few years prior to making this statement. H.G Wells referred to the ‘interviewing ordeal’ but was a frequent interviewee. He also interviewed Joseph Stalin. Saul Bellow who was a playwright and novelist, considered interviews as ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’.

In spite of having these drawbacks, many people find this method of reporting as the most reliable and a supremely serviceable medium of communication. Today our most vivid impression of our contemporaries is through interviews. Denis Brian feels that almost everything of moment reaches us through one man, the interviewer, asking questions to his interviewees. He therefore holds an unprecedented position of power and influence. Interviews are also essential for the public because the interviewees are public icons whose thoughts, views and ideas have a profound impact on the common man.

Umberto Eco, basically an academic scholar produced many non fiction works. Till the age of fifty, he did not have even a single novel to his credit. One day having nothing to do, he started writing a novel. He has written only five novels against forty scholarly works. He became spectacularly famous as a novelist after the publication of ‘The Name of the Rose’. He considers himself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays. He participates in academic conferences and identifies with the academic community.

Eco agrees that ‘The Name of the Rose’ is a difficult and serious novel. It has proved journalists and publishers wrong. The success of ‘The Name of the Rose’ has shown that people like serious and difficult reading too.

Eco feels the huge success of his novel cannot be only the medieval background of the novel as many books have been written on this topic earlier. The huge success is a mystery to him. Eco feels that the novel was probably written at the most appropriate time. If he had written it ten years earlier or later, it may not have been such a success.

b) 130 years

a) The real truth

c) It is an encroachment on their privacy

a) One loses a part of himself

b) Being projected as larger than life

a) Stealing that person’s soul

d) He viewed interviews as something derogatory

c) Mark Twain

a) Joseph Stalin

b) Thumbprints on the windpipe

a) An expressive medium

b) Interviews

d) Semiotics

b) Bologna

b) 5

c) 40

a) Between 2-3

d) 3000

a) Mukund Pradmanabham

b) David Lodge

b) Baffled

a) Empty spaces in our lives

a) Playful and personal

c) 22

b) His in depth knowledge of semiotic

b) Philosophical interests

d) An essayist

a) He wanted to do creative writing

c) A university professor

a) The Name of the Rose