I'm not an expert in English to judge, really. But from what I know, I don't see any significant difference.

As for old books - they obviously don't represent live language of their time. In the past, themes you mentioned was not a frequent topic in books and even if they appear, they was not a center of narration. Today, literature is rushing for absorbing everything from language for profits and in attempt to attract modern audience who is sticked to social crap where live language over-stressing everything weird, even things you barely would use in face-to-face talk.