I’ve been reading articles from various magazines this evening. An interview with Glenda Jackson in one, various bits from “This Week”, including an article on how appalling we seem to be at retaining the details of a novel’s plot and story arc after we’ve read it. I found it particularly interesting, as I feel I have suffered this “sensory overload” memory blindness for years. The more important of the event…the greater the significance and magnitude it has for me, the quicker and greater the memory loss is.
The thing I am most happy about reading in this article is that my slow reading sounds somewhat of a blessing. It is of a great benefit, it would seem, that I read slow. I set myself up for a greater ability to retain information, because I allow myself to time to absorb it, therefore giving myself a better capacity to retain it.
So, in future, when I am down on myself for not being able to read faster than I can, I will remind myself of this information and be happy.
Sometimes the tortoise does indeed win.