Last time I had an English teacher or a Literature Professor was unfortunately quite a few years ago .I think it all comes down to whether you've enjoyed reading the book, that's all that matters and that determines whether the author is a sucessful writer or not. Maybe an English teacher would be less than thrilled, but so what, your the one who bought the book and your the one who's reading it, if you've enjoyed reading it, thats all that matters whether your English teacher or Literature Professor agrees or not.
How can you "find ways to improve it and offer suggestions of ways to make it better"? Unless you're from the pulp fiction business, I mean; and possibly not even then. One might argue that what you really wanted to say is something like "I read this book, and it pressed the wrong buttons, and I don't like Mary Sues, or black-and-white characters. I will not read another book written by this loser (*)". Cloaking everything under some kind of literary criticism is...lost time?Yes. I didn't pick up ISOT expecting a life changing all time classic. I was looking for a book to take on holiday and not provide too much work for me to get through and it provided that perfectly adequately. Despite this, I can still find ways to improve it and offer suggestions of ways to make it better.
(*): Which is just like a guy who says: no more drinks for me. Pulp fiction fans are a kind of addicts and the best proof is Turtledove: everyone criticises him, his sloppy style, his heinous habit of repeating the same stale joke or the same bloody annoying habit of one character or another. He should be in the poor house by now. Wrong. He "writes" 4/+ books per year and sells them like pancakes.
Pulp fiction is very similar to politics: one does not looks for the most ethic or the ideal wat of doing things. The key to success is to get as close as possible to the lowest common denominator, and access the widest possible accessible market. So a successful author should follow rules that best suit his/her target slice of the market. Black-and-white characters sell books, and they sell film. Why introduce complications?People in books who are always good or only evil are both boring (we can anticipate their actions) and quite frankly unrealistic. I just think that in say ISOT, if some of the good characters found themselves agreeing with what Walker was doing or some of Walker's band having second thoughts about their choices. A section about an ex-Walkerite being captured and possibly reintergrated into Nantucket would be very interesting.
A couple of "Walkerites" have been rehabilitated, more or less. Look at Odixeus and to the king of Tartessos. But there must be always a clear "sin-and-retribution" scenario for the true baddies. It works for Hollywood too, and makes them a lot of money, you know?