Yes, people are less critical of genre fiction on the whole versus literary fiction, and they shouldn't be. Writing is writing. A novel is a novel is a novel, regardless if sub-genre. While yes, I will happily state that I deem the likelihood of someone writing genre fiction ever creating something akin to, say, Steinbeck, that is not the point I, nor I assume Marvolo, was getting at.
Simply, there is good writing, and there is bad writing. That we're dealing with fantasy fiction does not change that, nor does it change what classifies as good writing. Good fantasy fiction, like good western fiction, good crime fiction, good sci-fi fiction, good literary fiction, good ad nauseum fiction will have character and plot development that is not half-****ed nor half-***ed, is fully-realized, is not flat, blah blah blah. You know - the stuff that makes good writing good, which even transcends medium to comics, video game, film, and television. That's all that was being said.
It's not about comparison, whether on our parts or the writer's part. It's not even about aspiration, because that's actually rather deamining, whether intentionally or not - the idea that, "Well, if he was really worth the paper he's being printed on, he'd try to write actual literature." Comparison can work within a sub-genre for works of related or similar natures, sure, but not across sub-genres. That kind of thinking has been prevalent for quite a long time, despite writers like Tolkien and Martin doing quite a lot, whether while alive or posthumously, to lift so-called "genre fiction," which has a demeaning connotation itself and is not wholly accurate, at least some ways out of the gutter. It's getting to be less a problem, but that divide still remains in professional, personal, and educational levels.
I was lucky enough during my undergraduate years to work with an instructor who was willing to work past it, though even after two years I don't think she was quite willing to take "genre fiction" seriously, and will never try to do anything but write "serious literary fiction."
