Chapter 7 The Interview Solutions
Question - 21 : - What makes EcoтАЩs The Name of the Rose a very serious novel?
Answer - 21 : -
The Name of the Rose is a very serious novel. It is a detective story at one level but it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Due to these reasons it was greatly received by the public.
Question - 22 : - What, according to Eco, puzzles journalists and publishers?
Answer - 22 : -
According to Umberto Eco, journalists and publishers are puzzled when something unexpected happens. They believe that people like trash and do not like difficult reading experiences. But EcoтАЩs novel The Name of the Rose, a serious work, sold between 10 and 15 million copies. This puzzled them.
Question - 23 : - Is UmbertoтАЩs informal style consciously adopted or natural?
Answer - 23 : -
UmbertoтАЩs doctoral thesis was a story of his research and a sum of his experience, his trials and errors. The thesis was appreciated and published as a book. Umberto then developed on his taste for narration and this narrative aspect lends an informal touch to all his essays and novels. It makes his style alive and reading his works is not dry and boring like the reading of other academic works.
Question - 24 : - Why did Umberto take to writing novels?
Answer - 24 : -
Umberto took to writing novels to satisfy his taste for narration. He did not have even a single novel to his credit, till the age of 50. One day having nothing to do, he started writing a novel. Moreover, he thought that novels have more readership and he could reach a larger audience.
Question - 25 : - What made Roiand Barthes frustrated? What did he want to do?
Answer - 25 : -
Eco s friend Roland Barthes was an essayist. He was not satisfied fully with his scholarly essays. He yearned to do some creative writing. He remained frustrated that he was as essayist and not novelist. But, unfortunately he died before he could do so.
Question - 26 : - How did Umberto Eco become spectacularly famous?
Answer - 26 : -
Umberto Eco had earned a good reputation in the field of semiotics or the study of signs. His scholarly works were staggeringly large and wide ranging. But his spectacular fame came to him with his novel The Name of the Rose which stormed the world and sold more than 10 million copies.
Question - 27 : - What sort of TV programmes does Eco watch after dinner and why?
Answer - 27 : -
After dinner, Eco watches light television programmes like Miami Vice and Emergency Room. These programmes do not tax his mind and he feels relaxed after a hard, dayтАЩs work. But he cannot watch such programmes the whole day.
Question - 28 : - Bring out Umberto EcoтАЩs humility and modesty as evident in the chapter.
Answer - 28 : -
Umberto Eco takes success in his stride and talks about his achievements in all modesty. He very humbly gives credit to the peopleтАЩs capability of appreciating difficult reading experiences. Regarding doing so many things, he tells that it a fallicious impression, but at the end of the day, he is doing the same thing.
Question - 29 : - The Interview as a communication genre is here to stay. Discuss with reference to the interview with Umberto Eco.
Answer - 29 : -
The interview today is a communication genre that has come to stay. Its detractorsтАФmostly celebritiesтАФ despise it as an intrusion into their lives. However, a good interview can be a source of truth, it is an excellent medium of communication and in the modern world our most vivid impressions of contemporaries are through interviews. It is through the interview that we learn about EcoтАЩs diverse writings, his interest in the philosophy of non-violence and peace and his ability to put every spare moment to constructive use. At the interviewerтАЩs prompting, he tells us why he writes scholarly works in an informal style and how he started writing novels. We realise that he is an academician at heart. He honestly talks of the success of his book as a mystery saying that it might тАвnot have sold so well in another time.
Question - 30 : - How did Umberto Eco assess his style of writing in The Name of the Rose?
Answer - 30 : -
Umberto Eco considered himself to be an academician who was happy writing novels on Sundays. Though he did not feel he was a novelist, he felt the novel fulfilled his desire for narration. In fact, he spoke of himself as a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. The novel, according to him, enabled him to reach a larger audience. The Name of the Rose was a very serious novel. It was a detective story that delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval historyтАЩ. It enjoyed a huge audience as, according to him, people did enjoy difficult reading experiences. Like him. many did not like easy experiences all the time. The novel deals with a period of medieval history and the publisher did not expect to sell so well in a state where nobody had studied Latin or seen a cathedral. He felt the timing was crucial. Perhaps its popularity would have been less, had it been written earlier or later. тАШ