i liked it also. i think the point the author was trying to make is very on the mark.
i like how english teachers always put symbolism into books but he always strictly stated what his symbols were. and he wouldn't let anyone interpret them in any other way.
speakig of which... the other day we had a guest speaker of art in english class. and our teacher had been arguing with us how in metamorphosis by franz kafka the apple represented somethign and we said no. in the presentation on dali, he said about how you never know what the artist meant unless they tell you. toatlly put her in her place. bam!
Metamorphosis..weird stuff right there.
But as for putting symbols into stuff..it drives me crazy. The authors were probably just writing a nice story about nothing and then bam the bird that they have flying overhead and pooping on the ground in chapter 10 foreshadows the marriage of Katie and Susie in book 15. Like..whaaat. In A Tale of Two Cities I remember that my teacher insisted that the gnats flying outside the court room door had some meaning. Maybe they were just gnats and that city had trouble with them?
i remember hating that book for all the symbolism my teacher put in it. that and i didn't read it thoroughly so maybe i was just too confused to care. i saw the wishbone version, so there was no need to actually read it.