The Interview From the Introduction to The Penguin Book of Interviews edited by | Class 12 English Notes

Part II

Part II presents an extended extract from an interview of Umberto Eco by Mukund Padmanabhan. Eco, an Italian professor and novelist, is known for his scholarly work on semiotics and medieval aesthetics as well as his bestselling novel, The Name of the Rose. The interview reveals Eco’s philosophy of writing and his approach to balancing academic and creative work. He explains that despite appearing to do many things, he is essentially pursuing the same philosophical interests through different forms of writing, including academic work, novels, and children's books. Eco introduces the idea of 'interstices'—empty spaces in time that he uses productively, such as writing while waiting in an elevator. He also discusses his distinctive academic style, which is narrative and personal rather than dry and impersonal, a method he adopted early in his career. Eco recounts how he began writing novels late, by accident, and how this satisfied his taste for narration. The interview touches on the success of The Name of the Rose, which combines detective fiction with complex themes like metaphysics and medieval history, and how it unexpectedly reached a large audience, defying publishers’ expectations. Eco expresses some frustration that he is primarily known as a novelist rather than an academic, although he recognizes that novels reach a wider audience.

📊 Diagram: No diagrams are present in this section.

🧪 Activity: Understanding the text: Questions on Eco’s attitude to interviews, time management, writing style, self-identification, and reasons for his novel's success.

🔗 Connection: Leads to the section on Talking about the Text, which encourages discussion and reflection on interviews and media.