Yes, I think this could be a big part of the reason why I read so many older books. There are some wonderful new ones but an awful lot of rubbish. So many books could do with an editor, being far too long, or full of spelling or typographical errors, or just plain badly written. When it comes to dialogue, I don't mind if it isn't in period, which for books written way back in time would be hard to do. I think when it stands out as glaringly wrong is when modern cliches are used. Over-reliance on them is surely lazy even in modern books. I liked Sarah Waters' Night Watch, but unfortunately can never forget that she had somebody reply, "I wish!" in the 1940s, when I never heard this in real life until about ten years ago, and didn't like it much then. Clare
