Here' my $.02 on it.
Remington screwed up by releasing the 597 before they had all of the bugs worked out. 99% of the people who bad mouth the 597 are people with these early versions. The gen1 mags (plastic) sucked. The gen2 mags (metal) were better, were still not always 100% (but can be made to work 100%). I don't think I've seen anybody with the Gen3 mags complaining. The early models also came with a different ejector that wasn't very good but those were replaced 2-3 years ago.
Here's my opinion on it. Out of the box, a current manufactured 597 is the .22autoloader that the 10/22 wished it was. It has much better fit, balance, proportions, accuracy and trigger. There are a lot more accessories for the 10/22 then there are for the 597. The difference is, the 597 doesn't need all of that crap. My trigger is pretty damn nice right out of the box but for something really sweet, add a VQ or Jarvis hammer. Some people replace the extractor with the VQ version which is not a bad idea but not generally a "have to have".
I will say the 10/22 has a better receiver (because it's not as thin as the 597's) and I wish the 597 had an Aluminum trigger housing like the 10/22 but other then that, I think the 597 is better in every other way.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a rifle to play around with (tweak, modify, customize) the 10/22 is the better way to go as there is so much more available for it. I'm getting ready to buy my son his own .22 rifle and am seriously considering getting him a 10/22 for the customizing reason. I have a tweaked 10/22 and think he would enjoy doing the same thing and it's something we can do together when not actually shooting.