Breathe

by Kate Pullinger

Breathe, by Kate Pullinger, published by Visual Editions, is a ghost story. It is a ghost story about a young woman, Flo, who likes to talk to ghosts. Or maybe it’s the ghosts who like to talk to her.

Full of psychological suspense and haunting interruptions, Breathe is a story for anyone who wants to know what it's like to read a personalised book and feel a chill when they see their digital world and their real world combine.

ebook

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Kate Pullinger is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories and digital works. Her most recent book is FOREST GREEN, out in Canada in August 2020. She is Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University.

Born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Kate dropped out of McGill University after a year and a half of not studying philosophy and literature. She then spent a year working in a copper mine in the Yukon where she crushed rocks and saved money. She spent that money travelling and ended up in London, England, where she lives with her husband and two children.

Kate’s other books include The Mistress of Nothing, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction 2009, Landing Gear, A Little Stranger and The Last Time I Saw Jane, as well as the ghost tale, Weird Sister, and the erotic feminist vampire novel Where Does Kissing End? These four titles have recently been re-released in new ebook editions.

Kate’s digital works include Inanimate Alice (www.inanimatealice.com), an episodic online multimedia novel and Flight Paths: A Networked Novel (www.flightpaths.net)

You can find out more about Kate and her work at www.katepullinger.com

Reviews

[Emily Weatherburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Breathe really was an incredible experience. It's a new, digital story that is designed to be read on smartphones. It uses certain features of the phone, such as the camera and location services, to make the story seem much more real. In all honesty, it did a fantastic job of this; by giving the names of the streets around me, I got a sense that I was being watched, and this really helped to illustrate the tension in the actual narrative - which just so happens to be a ghost story.

It was oddly chilling, and although I'm not sure I like the idea of ALL books being turned into digital presentations such as this, it was a quick, easy read that really suited the mobile format. I hate to think that this is the way that our reading experience is heading, purely because I love books, but it would be wrong to deny that this might actually be the future of books. After all, as consumers, we want our information to be convenient, and we want it fast.

The story itself is really interesting. It definitely ties in with the idea that, as a reader, I was being watched by the ghostly characters in the story. The sentences were short and the entire story only took me about half an hour to read, but I did really enjoy it.

You can read Breathe online for free here (best read on smartphones): https://ambientlit.com/breathe.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interactive concept, that I wasn't familiar with before. Interesting on a structural level, entertaining and slightly unsettling story.

[eva ⚘ · Rating 3 out of 5]

(read for uni)

[Jim O'Loughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a clever and thoughtful mediation on loss and technology. A much recommended, fairly quick read, but if you don't read it on your phone, you miss too much of the experience: free on your phone: https://breathe-story.com/

[Melissa Sears · Rating 4 out of 5]

So unique and original! It was a fun read with my mom.

[Kishor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breathe in. Breathe out. Survive.

I like this lady.

[Kaushik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept.

[vita✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

idk this didn't really thrill me that much... for a locative narrative it didn't actually push the reader to interact with their surroundings that much, it kind of did the work for you? which sorta misses the point of locative narrative. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, made me want to travel home and yap to my mother. Effects are cool but just don't understand the goal of the camera? I mean the location effect was enough, in my opinion, to engage with readers.

[Katy]

This is an interesting idea--I hadn't read an ebook before that had interactive components. It's a fun concept, and has potential.