大象传媒

Described by The New York Times as "one of the smartest writers alive", award winning novelist Rachel Cusk makes her debut as a presenter on Radio 4 with a reflection on the "suspension of disbelief", inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

"It was given to us as an explanation of how stories work," she explains, " the suspension of our disbelief is what allows the unreal to become, momentarily, real."

Using the poetry of T S Eliot, Wordsworth, Herbert and Coleridge himself, Rachel takes the listener on a journey through reality and belief, which ultimately affects our understanding of ourselves.

"We want to be transported by stories out of our own lives, much as we want to be lifted by faith out of doubt. Yet the drama of our own experience is so much closer and more real to us - the problem is that it lacks the coherence and order of narrative. To bear reality, we need to believe that our lives constitute some kind of story. We want the writer to write it for us, to arrange things into a meaningful pattern, to help us suspend our disbelief."

Music from Beethoven, Radiohead, Britten and Karl Jenkins help Rachel reveal the "value of disbelief" and "the possibilities for freedom it offers".

A TBI Media production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.