Umberto Eco has rightly pointed out that the success behind ‘The Name of the Rose’ is unknown and even a mystery to him as well. According to him, it is certainly not possible to ascertain the reason or logic behind a book’s success or failure; one can only make wild guesses. Perhaps the time in…
Eco’s writing style is strikingly different from that of the standard academic mode. The academicians first make a thorough research, then move on to prove their hypotheses, and finally give their conclusion on the subject. The final outcome, therefore, comes out as tedious. Eco, on the other hand, tells the story of his research, including…
Umberto Eco, in all possibilities, likes being interviewed. He readily answers every question asked by Mukund Padmanabhan in an energetic and lively manner. He does not seem apprehensive about sharing his secrets, experiences and opinions with the interviewer, and consequently, the world. There is no indication throughout the interview that he dislikes being interviewed.
Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar first and then a novelist. He wrote more scholarly articles as compared to novels; and he attended academic conferences and not meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. According to him, he was a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. “I started writing novels by accident,” he said.
During the interview, Mukund Padmanabhan reiterates David Lodge’s surprise on Umberto Eco’s large amount of works and how he manages to write them all. To this Eco replies that just like the universe has empty spaces, our lives too, have a lot of empty spaces; he calls them ‘interstices’. Whenever he has a few moments…
Interviews help us know our contemporaries and their opinions. They serve as a means of communication between the celebrities and the audience. In this case, the interviewer is endowed with a very special power and he becomes our chief source of information about personalities.
‘Thumbprints on his windpipe’ means to choke or suffocate somebody by applying pressure on his throat. Saul Bellow uses this expression to refer to the pressure and discomfort felt by a celebrity while giving an interview.
Celebrity writers believe that the interviews unduly intrude in their private lives. They regard themselves as victims of interviews. They claim that the interview in some way ‘diminishes’ them. Certain celebrities like V.S. Naipaul have claimed that interviews leave them wounded, while others like Rudyard Kipling have referred to it as a crime and an…
Interviews have become a fundamental part of journalism. It is a useful means of communication. At times, it is the biggest source of truth, and it is practised as an art. Denis Brian has stated that in today’s world we get to know “our contemporaries” through their interviews.