Okay, now here’s a crazy idea; Novelists Kate Pullinger, Stefan Schemat, and Chris Joseph have been working on this thing called The Breathing Wall. It’s basically an e-book, with a really goofy twist. As you read it, you have to wear a microphone. The microphone monitors your breathing, and the only way to read deeper into the story is with controlled breathing rhythms.

What?!

I know I just wrote that, but I’m still wrapping my head around the notion!

The story combines text, image and sound to create a tale told largely through surreal daydream sequences. I kind of like that. Such a crazy concept, you have to expect a crazy story to go along with it.

On the one hand, I’m intrigued by the goofy gimmicks people come up with to tell their stories, but there’s also that doubt that’s always going to be there; are they really trying to do something new and exciting to enliven the art of storytelling, or is this just a cute way to sell a few copies of a dull story?

It’s kind of like 3D movies. Try watching one without the red and blue glasses, and you’re usually left with a bland tale of boring characters doing tedious things for no good reason, except there’s always a bunch of stuff flying at the camera lens.

Anyways, you have to maintain a relaxed, steady rhythm to your breathing if you hope to finish the story. I suppose the real gauge of how good this book really is would be… is it easy to read? Because if it is, then that means it’s not really as… breathtaking… as we usually like stories to be. I like reading the kind of books that can speed up your heart rate and have you taking short, gasping breaths as you turn the page to see what happens next, so if The Breathing Wall winds up being any good, it’ll be something of a challenge to get through.

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