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What do you think of his books, and of his insight on life in general?. Also, if you have read Slaughterhouse-Five, what do you think is the meaning of "Poo-Tee-Weet"?

2007-07-16 08:50:08 · 5 answers · asked by underdog 2 in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

5 answers

Vonnegut -- the modern day Mark Twain.

Slaughterhouse 5 is among his top works -- semi-biographical. Vonnegut was taken prisoner by the Germans during the battle of the Bulge in the largest single mass surrender of American troops ever.


Poo - tee -weet symbolizes many Vonnegut-type things -- like his commonly appearing phrase "so it goes". Kind of like saying that no matter what horrors men manage to perpetrate upon their fellows, the Earth abides

Juxtaposed to the fire-bombing of Dresden, "Poo-tee-weet" it is simply an unspeakable, unimaginable irony. It is one of the saddest, most tragic moments in literature for me.

What a great book. What a great mind.

2007-07-16 11:11:48 · answer #1 · answered by glinzek 6 · 1 0

Mr Vonnegut is well know as one of the best American authors of the twentieth century. The first book I read of his was Time-quake and I was hooked - even though he has many better book! My favorite is Hocus Pocus.

I had the honor of going to see Mr Vonnegut live several years ago and was even more impressed with him in person.

'Poo-tee-weet?' is the sound of a bird chirping. Billy hears it at the very end of the novel, and it is foreshadowed when the narrator reveals at the end of the first chapter that his story will begin 'Listen:' and end 'Poo-tee-weet?'.

Also - Mr. Vonnegut did not ant to quote the Temptations directly by saying ("War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!"),


So it goes...

2007-07-16 16:00:48 · answer #2 · answered by Ralph 7 · 0 1

wow i read slaughterhouse 5 last summer...absolutely insane. he was actually insane wasn't he? lol

this is what spark notes had to say on the subject:
The Bird Who Says “Poo-tee-weet?”
The jabbering bird symbolizes the lack of anything intelligent to say about war. Birdsong rings out alone in the silence after a massacre, and “Poo-tee-weet?” seems about as appropriate a thing to say as any, since no words can really describe the horror of the Dresden firebombing. The bird sings outside of Billy’s hospital window and again in the last line of the book, asking a question for which we have no answer, just as we have no answer for how such an atrocity as the firebombing could happen.

2007-07-16 15:55:22 · answer #3 · answered by Padfoot 3 · 0 1

I love Vonnegut's work, he was a true genius. I read Slaughterhouse Five many years ago; I should read it again. My favorite is Cat's Cradle though, I love the satire and dark humor. Godbless You, Mr. Rosewater is also a good one. I think the only one I didn't like was "Happy Birthday Wanda June" (it's a play, not a novel); I felt it was just too weird.

2007-07-16 16:11:46 · answer #4 · answered by Emily 6 · 0 0

I only read S5 and thought it grossly overrated.

2007-07-16 16:23:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 3

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