Class 12 English · Original EZT practice
The Interview - Christopher Silvester, with Umberto Eco (Class 12 English, Flamingo, Chapter 7)
The Interview is Chapter 7 of Class 12 Flamingo (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 66-74). Part I, from Christopher Silvester's introduction to The Penguin Book of Interviews, weighs two extreme views of the genre: for some it is 'a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art'; for others an 'unwarranted intrusion' that diminishes its victims. Part II carries Mukund Padmanabhan's interview of Umberto Eco for The Hindu - the Bologna professor who calls himself 'a professor who writes novels on Sundays' and explains how he works in life's 'interstices'. This page gives a full summary, theme, word meanings and fresh practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - the genre weighed, the genre practised
Part I: Silvester opens with the interview's reach. Since its invention 'a little over 130 years ago', the interview has become 'a commonplace of journalism'; almost every literate person has read one, and 'several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly'. Opinions of 'its functions, methods and merits' vary between extravagant praise and celebrity contempt. Its defenders make 'quite extravagant claims' for it - 'in its highest form, a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art'. Its famous victims feel diminished, '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 had 'a just horror of the interviewer' and never consented to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling's wife Caroline wrote in her diary for 14 October 1892 that their day was 'wrecked by two reporters from Boston'; Kipling called the interview 'immoral... a crime... as an assault' - though Silvester notes Kipling had himself 'perpetrated such an 'assault' on Mark Twain only a few years before'. H. G. Wells spoke of 'the interviewing ordeal' in 1894 yet was a frequent interviewee and, forty years later, interviewed Joseph Stalin; Saul Bellow described interviews as 'like thumbprints on his windpipe'. Despite the drawbacks, Silvester calls the interview 'a supremely serviceable medium' of communication; Denis Brian wrote that almost everything of moment reaches us through one person asking questions of another, leaving the interviewer with 'unprecedented power and influence'. Part II: David Lodge is quoted at the start - 'I can't understand how one man can do all the things he [Eco] does.' Eco answers that he is 'always doing the same thing', pursuing the same ethical and philosophical interests through academic work, novels, even children's books 'about non-violence and peace'. His secret is 'interstices' - empty spaces: eliminate the empty spaces in all atoms, he jokes, and 'the universe will become as big as my fist'; in life, 'I work in empty spaces. While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article!' His scholarly style came from his doctoral dissertation at 22 - a professor told him, 'You, on the contrary, told the story of your research. Even including your trials and errors' - so Eco wrote scholarship as narrative and says, 'I started writing novels by accident.' Identified by most people as 'the novelist', Eco is bothered: 'I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays... I identify myself with the academic community.' On the success of The Name of the Rose, he notes his American publisher expected to sell no more than 3000 copies 'in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin', so he was 'given an advance for 3000 copies, but in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S.' His verdict: 'I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it.'
2. The two parts at a glance
Part I - the genre weighed: since its invention 'a little over 130 years ago', the interview has become 'a commonplace of journalism'; opinions of 'its functions, methods and merits' vary between extravagant praise ('a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art') and celebrity contempt (an 'unwarranted intrusion' that diminishes its victims). Part II - the genre practised: Mukund Padmanabhan of The Hindu questions Umberto Eco about his output, his narrative style of scholarship, and the 'mystery' of The Name of the Rose - and Eco answers with the 'interstices', his Sunday novel-writing, and his refusal to be filed as 'the novelist'.
3. Theme and word meanings
The interview as communication genre: between 'source of truth' and 'thumbprints on his windpipe', the chapter tests what a question-and-answer exchange can reveal - Denis Brian's observation that momentous news reaches us through questions and answers gives the interviewer 'unprecedented power and influence'. Identity and labels: Eco resists being filed as 'the novelist'; his Sunday writing is one expression of 'the same bunch of ethical, philosophical interests'. Time and creativity: the interstices idea turns waiting into work - a practical lesson in how a scholar-writer uses 'empty spaces'. Textbook-flagged expressions, explained: commonplace of journalism - an ordinary, everyday feature of newspapers and media; unwarranted intrusion - an unjustified invasion of someone's privacy; lionized - treated as a celebrity (Carroll's 'horror of being lionized' made him repel interviewers); perpetrated - carried out, committed (Kipling had himself 'perpetrated such an 'assault' on Mark Twain'); ordeal - a painful, trying experience (Wells's 'interviewing ordeal'); interstices - small empty gaps or intervals, Eco's name for the unused spaces in daily life; seminal - highly influential, shaping later work (Eco's 'seminal piece of work on semiotics').
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Measure the genre's reach
Choose the method: How common is the interview?
EZT practice question
How widespread does Silvester say the interview has become since its invention 'a little over 130 years ago'?
Show the worked solution
- Start from the invention claim: the interview is a recent form, invented 'a little over 130 years ago'.
- Then its status today: it has become 'a commonplace of journalism'.
- Finally the evidence: almost every literate person has read one, and 'several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly'.
Answer: Almost every literate person has read one, and 'several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly' - it has become 'a commonplace of journalism'.
Check: The invention date, the 'commonplace' status, and the celebrity count.
Watch for this: Do not credit Silvester with praising the form here - the reach is stated neutrally before the two extreme views arrive.
Now try it yourself
What two extreme views of the interview does Silvester pair?
Check your answer
Its defenders make 'quite extravagant claims' for it - 'in its highest form, a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art' - while its victims despise it as an 'unwarranted intrusion' that diminishes them.
The pairing sets up the whole first part: praise and contempt side by side.
List the famous victims
Choose the method: Naipaul to Bellow, case by case.
EZT practice question
Which celebrities does Silvester cite as wounded by interviews, and what did each say?
Show the worked solution
- V. S. Naipaul 'feels that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves'.
- Lewis Carroll had 'a just horror of the interviewer' and never consented to be interviewed; Kipling called the interview 'immoral... a crime... as an assault' after two Boston reporters wrecked his day.
- H. G. Wells spoke of 'the interviewing ordeal'; Saul Bellow described interviews as 'like thumbprints on his windpipe'.
Answer: Naipaul feels people 'lose a part of themselves'; Carroll had 'a just horror of the interviewer' and never consented; Kipling called it 'immoral... a crime... as an assault'; Wells spoke of 'the interviewing ordeal'; Bellow likened interviews to 'thumbprints on his windpipe'.
Check: Five names, each with the complaint attached to the right person.
Watch for this: Do not attach Kipling's 'crime and assault' verdict to Wells - Wells's phrase is 'the interviewing ordeal', and Wells went on to interview Stalin himself.
Now try it yourself
What irony does Silvester note about Kipling's condemnation?
Check your answer
Kipling had himself 'perpetrated such an 'assault' on Mark Twain only a few years before'.
The fiercest critic of the interview had once been the interviewer.
Read Caroline Kipling's diary
Choose the method: One dated entry, one verdict.
EZT practice question
What does Caroline Kipling's diary entry for 14 October 1892 record, and what was Kipling's own verdict?
Show the worked solution
- The diary records that their day was 'wrecked by two reporters from Boston'.
- Kipling's verdict: the interview is 'immoral... a crime... as an assault' that 'merits punishment'.
- Silvester adds the irony: Kipling had himself interviewed Mark Twain a few years before.
Answer: She wrote that their day was 'wrecked by two reporters from Boston'; Kipling called interviewing 'immoral... a crime... as an assault' - though he had himself 'perpetrated such an 'assault' on Mark Twain only a few years before'.
Check: The date, the two Boston reporters, the verdict, and the Mark Twain irony.
Watch for this: Do not present the diary line as Kipling's own writing - it is his wife Caroline's record; his is the 'immoral' verdict.
Now try it yourself
How does Silvester finally judge the interview as a medium?
Check your answer
He calls it 'a supremely serviceable medium' of communication, citing Denis Brian that almost everything of moment reaches us through one person asking questions of another.
After all the complaints, the form survives because it works.
Unpack the interstices
Choose the method: Work done in empty spaces.
EZT practice question
What analogy does Eco draw from the atoms of the universe?
Show the worked solution
- Eco jokes: eliminate the empty spaces in all atoms and 'the universe will become as big as my fist'.
- Life, like the universe, is mostly empty spaces - waiting, pauses, intervals.
- His practice: 'I work in empty spaces. While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article!'
Answer: Eliminate the empty spaces in all atoms and 'the universe will become as big as my fist'; life's empty spaces - his 'interstices' - are where he works, writing an article while a visitor's elevator rises.
Check: The fist-sized universe joke, the name 'interstices', and the elevator example.
Watch for this: Do not treat the interstices as wasted time to fill with distraction - for Eco they are the working time itself.
Now try it yourself
How does Eco answer David Lodge's amazement at his output?
Check your answer
He says he is 'always doing the same thing' - pursuing the same ethical and philosophical interests through academic work, novels and even children's books 'about non-violence and peace'.
One set of interests, many forms - that is how one man does it all.
Resolve Eco's label problem
Choose the method: Professor first, novelist on Sundays.
EZT practice question
Why is Eco bothered at being identified as 'the novelist'?
Show the worked solution
- Most people identify him as 'the novelist' because The Name of the Rose sold more than 10 million copies.
- His own identity: 'I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays... I identify myself with the academic community.'
- Still, he concedes the trade-off: 'by writing novels, I reach a larger audience. I cannot expect to have one million readers with stuff on semiotics.'
Answer: Because he considers himself 'a university professor who writes novels on Sundays' and identifies with the academic community - though he accepts that novels, not 'stuff on semiotics', reach a million readers.
Check: The public label, his preferred label, and his reason for accepting the trade-off.
Watch for this: Do not say Eco disowns his novels - he calls his Sunday writing one expression of 'the same bunch of ethical, philosophical interests'.
Now try it yourself
Where did Eco's narrative style of scholarship come from?
Check your answer
From his doctoral dissertation at 22 - a professor told him, 'You, on the contrary, told the story of your research. Even including your trials and errors' - so he says, 'I started writing novels by accident.'
Telling research as a story trained the novelist.
Account for the surprise bestseller
Choose the method: 3000 copies planned, millions sold.
EZT practice question
What advance did Eco's American publisher give for The Name of the Rose, and what happened in the U.S. market?
Show the worked solution
- The publisher doubted sales 'in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin'.
- So Eco was 'given an advance for 3000 copies'.
- The result: 'in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S.' - and Eco concludes, 'I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it.'
Answer: An advance for 3000 copies - the publisher doubted sales 'in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin' - but 'in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S.', which is why Eco calls the book's success 'a mystery'.
Check: The advance figure, the cathedral-and-Latin doubt, and the two or three million outcome.
Watch for this: Do not say journalists alone were puzzled - Eco adds, 'Journalists are puzzled. And sometimes publishers,' because they 'believe that people like trash and don't like difficult reading experiences'.
Now try it yourself
What does Eco watch after dinner, and what is the point?
Check your answer
'Miami Vice' or 'Emergency Room' - 'But not all day'; readers of difficult books exist, and even they enjoy light television in measure.
The detail answers the publishers' belief that people only like trash.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. The two extreme views of the interview?
Show answer and reason
'A source of truth, and, in its practice, an art' versus an 'unwarranted intrusion' that diminishes its victims.
Silvester pairs extravagant praise with celebrity contempt.
2. Caroline Kipling's diary, 14 October 1892?
Show answer and reason
Their day was 'wrecked by two reporters from Boston.'
Kipling's 'immoral... a crime... as an assault' verdict follows - though he had interviewed Mark Twain himself.
3. Eco's 'interstices'?
Show answer and reason
Life's empty spaces, where he works: 'While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article!'
Waiting time becomes writing time.
4. The Name of the Rose in the U.S.?
Show answer and reason
Advanced for 3000 copies, 'in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S.'
Eco: 'I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it.'
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- In two sentences, explain why Silvester calls the interview 'a supremely serviceable medium' despite listing its famous victims.
- Contrast Kipling's verdict on interviews with his own conduct toward Mark Twain, quoting one phrase for each.
- Explain the 'interstices' idea in your own words and give one everyday example of working in empty spaces.
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Questions about this practice page
- Who wrote The Interview in Class 12 Flamingo, and what are its two parts?
- Christopher Silvester wrote it as his introduction to The Penguin Book of Interviews; he studied history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, reported for Private Eye for ten years and wrote features for Vanity Fair. Part I weighs views of the genre; Part II is Mukund Padmanabhan's interview of Umberto Eco for The Hindu.
- What is The Interview chapter about in Class 12 English?
- It examines the interview as a genre - its champions ('a source of truth... an art') and its famous critics (Naipaul, Carroll, Kipling, Wells, Bellow) - then shows the form at work in a conversation with Umberto Eco.
- Who is Umberto Eco in The Interview chapter?
- A professor at the University of Bologna known for semiotics, literary interpretation and medieval aesthetics, who turned to fiction at 'the age of 50, more or less'; his 1980 novel The Name of the Rose sold more than 10 million copies, yet he calls himself 'a university professor who writes novels on Sundays'.
- What does Eco mean by 'interstices' in The Interview?
- The empty spaces in daily life - like waiting for an elevator - which he uses for work: 'I work in empty spaces.'
- Where is The Interview in the Class 12 book?
- Chapter 7 of the Flamingo core-course textbook (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 66-74), excerpted from Christopher Silvester, with Mukund Padmanabhan's interview of Umberto Eco as Part II.