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I read Chris McManus's review of Douwe Draaisma's book Why Life Speeds up as You Grow Older: How Memory Shapes our Past with great interest (Books, September 16).

McManus states: "This book does not provide a hard-nosed answer to its titular topic ..." and neither does the reviewer himself offer one.

But surely the answer is obvious. If you are a five-year-old then the next year stretches out for 20 per cent of your current lifespan. If, like me, you will not see 50 again, then next year will be less than 2 per cent of your current lifespan. Same amount of time but experienced differentially.

QED?

Cliff Hancock
Bristol