Writing the flawed character

Thanks to a bladder infection that kept me up til 3 am Sat. night, I finished Water for Elephants.  I've had many people tell me what a *great* book it was.  I enjoyed it.  I wasn't blown away.  I really enjoyed it from a historical perspective, she certainly did her research on the subject.  However, by a little over the halfway point, I'd had it with Jacob.  I was really tired of his immaturity and pouts and sulks and stupid decision-making.  People tried to be his friend and he was always pushing them away and being rude.  At the end of the book edition I had, was an interview with the author, and she said she enjoys writing flawed characters, and that at some point in the reading, she *wants* the reader to want to throttle the characters. 

I think you walk a very fine line using this approach.  I think characters do need to be flawed, but I think they also have to have more redeeming qualities than flawed.  In Jacob's case, his redeeming qualities was the way he cared for a couple of the characters and the animals (eventually, anyway--his awakening to recognize the animals needed him should have happened much sooner, IMO).  But I felt his flaws outweighed these qualities.  I was really tired of him by the end when he finally does redeem himself.  It happened way too late, IMO, and affected my overall enjoyment of the book.