Short Answer Type Questions
Q1: Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Ans: Celebrities like V.S. Naipaul, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, and H.G. Wells have expressed their strong despise for interviews. They consider interviews immoral -‘an assault’ because they feel interviews leave a rather disparaging effect on their personalities and are an encroachment on their privacy.
Q2: State the reason for the huge success of the novel, “The Name of the Rose”.
Ans: There is no one reason for the huge success of the novel "The Name of the Rose". Umberto Eco himself calls its success a mystery. It is possible that this detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology, and medieval history interested the readers because the time in which it was written was most appropriate, neither a decade earlier nor a decade later.
Q3: What did the publisher think of ‘The Name of the Rose’?
Ans: The American publisher of 'The Name of the Rose' loved and liked the novel but did not expect to sell more than 3,000 copies. No one goes to a cathedral or studies Latin in America so it was really difficult to sell such a novel there. But the publisher was proved wrong as two to three million copies of the novel were sold in America.
Q4: Why do most celebrity writers hate to be interviewed?
Ans: Most of the celebrity writers shun interviews as they feel that interviews leave a disparaging effect on their personalities. They consider them as an encroachment on their privacy. Writers like V.S. Naipaul feel they are being wounded by interviews and thus losing a part of themselves.
Q5: How did Lewis Carroll react to the interviews?
Ans: Lewis Carroll shunned interviews for the fear of being projected as larger than life. He vehemently refused to give interviews and kept his fans, acquaintances, and interviewers at an arm's length. This gave him a great sense of satisfaction.
Q6: Why did Umberto Eco prefer himself to be called an academician than a novelist?
Ans: Despite achieving fame as a novelist, Eco preferred to associate himself with the academic community because his non-fictional work occupied him for the first fifty years of his life. He wrote his first novel at the age of around fifty. He identified himself more with the academic community and resorts to writing fiction only when he was not pursuing some scholarly work.
Q7: What was unique and distinctive about Eco's academic writing style?
Ans: Umberto Eco's academic writing style is personal, informal, and playful. He fills his research stories with all the trials and errors so that even his research work has the uniqueness of creative writing and reading. It is not only informative but also interesting.
Q8: "The Name of the Rose" deals with medieval history. Was it responsible for the novel's success?
Ans: The success of the novel 'The Name of the Rose' did not depend on merely one factor. Many other novels dealt with medieval history but did not achieve much success. Its success is more attributed to the timing of its publication, its narrative style and detective yarn, and also the fact that it delves into metaphysics and theology along with medieval history.
Q9: What drawbacks of interviews have been pointed out by Lewis Carroll?
Ans: Lewis Carroll considers interviews as an 'unwarranted intrusion' that is immoral and an offense against his person. He shunned interviews for fear of being projected as larger than life. His vehement refusal of interviews enabled him to keep his fans as well as interviews at arm's length.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q10: What made the American publisher think that the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ won’t sell in America? What actually happened? What was the secret of its success?
Ans: The American publisher believed that people like trash whereas ‘The Name of the Rose’ delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history and people do not like these difficult reading experiences. Through his novel, which sold between 10 to 15 million copies, Umberto Eco reached only a small percentage of readers. But, according to him, it is those kind of readers who do not want easy experiences, or at least, do not always want this. Umberto Eco cannot categorically state the reason for the huge success of the novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’. He himself refers to its success as a mystery. He feels this detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history interested the readers as it was written at the most appropriate time. Had it been written a decade earlier or later, it would not have been so successful. The way the book stormed the literary world, once it was out, surprised everyone. Even though it contained somewhat heavy reading, the book attracted a mass audience and Eco became famous as a novelist, rather than an academic scholar the world over.
Q11: Why did Umberto Eco start writing novels and when? What does Eco say about the huge success of his novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’ in spite of it being a difficult and very serious novel?
Ans: Umberto Eco was essentially an academician who pursued his scholarly pursuits through academic writings. He wrote about forty non¬fictions and as he himself says, ‘he became a novelist by accident’. That was the reason he started writing novels at the age of almost fifty. Eco considers himself ‘a university professor who writes novels (only) on Sundays’. He is not even very sure about any one single reason for the huge success of his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’. He feels perhaps the timing of the novel’s publication was the most important factor of its success. The fact that at one level it appears to be a detective yarn but also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history also adds to its appeal. Though the novel is quite a heavy reading experience, it attracted a mass audience and made Eco popular more as a novelist rather than an academic scholar.
Q12: Eco’s academic work has certain playful and personal quality about it. Comment.
Ans: Eco presents his arguments very logically and with a subtle wit and playfulness to it. He himself says that he started writing novels by accident. He essentially considers himself a university professor who wrote novels on Sunday. This non-fictional writing is a marked departive from the regular depersonalised style which is often dry and boring. Even his research work has the quality of creative writing and makes not only information but also interesting reading. In his doctoral dissertation, Eco tells the story of his research including his trials and errors. His: essays too always have a narrative aspect.
Q13: Why do some celebrity writers not like being interviewed?
Ans: Some celebrities see themselves as victims, and despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives. They feel that it somehow diminishes them, just as in some primitive cultures it is believed that ‘if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then one is stealing that person’s soul’. V.S. Naipaul feels that ‘some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves’. Lewis Carroll says that he has ‘just a horror for the interviewer’ and he never consented to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling expressed an even more condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. His wife reports her husband as saying that he considered an interview as a crime and immoral and thus it merits punishment.
Q14: What do you think about Umberto Eco? Does he like being interviewed? Give reasons in support of your answer from the text ‘The Interview’.
Ans: Unlike various other celebrities who express a strong dislike for interviews and consider it an encroachment upon their privacy, Umberto Eco seems to kind of enjoy giving interviews considering the spirited manner in which he answers the questions put forth to him by the interviewer, Mukund Padmanabhan. Eco readily and truthfully answers all the questions in the most humble and sincere manner, delving into details, thus revealing the fact that he actually does not mind sharing his experiences with others. At no point does he display any kind of haste to wind up the interview. In fact, he explicitly answers all the questions that Padmanabhan asks him giving the interviewer a feeling of warmth and being welcome.
Q15: What impression do you form about Umberto Eco as a scholar and writer on the basis of ‘The Interview’?
Ans: Umberto Eco’s style is narrative, written in the manner of a story. This is in contrast to a regular academic style which is invariably depersonalised, dry and boring. His scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality to it. He pursued his philosophical interests through his academic work and novels. He also wrote books for children on non-violence and peace. Umberto Eco, a professor at the University of Bologna, in Italy, is an authority on Semeiotics, the study of signs. He is also a well known novelist. His scholarly works include academic texts, essays, childrens’ books and newspaper articles. He pursues his philosophical interests through his academic writings and novels. In spite of having reached the zeniths of intellectuality, Eco is a humble and modest scholar. He brushes aside compliments and never boasts about his achievements. He is keen to share his experiences with others and shares the secret of accomplishing so much work by revealing the facts that he makes use of time- gaps between different pieces of work. Eco follows an informal and playful style of writing with a narrative aspect. Even his research work has a quality of creative writing and makes informative as well as interesting reading.
Q16: Umberto Eco is an academic as well as a famous novelist. Comment.
Ans: Despite getting famous as a novelist, Umberto Eco always associated himself with the academic community. He has written only five novels as compared to the forty scholarly works of non-fiction. He considers himself as a university professor who writes novels on Sundays. When he presented his first Doctoral dissertation in Italy, one of the professors was impressed by the way he told the story of his research, including his trials and errors. His essays always have a narrative aspect. He started writing novels quite late, at the age of 50, by accident to satisfy his taste for narration.
