Chris Halverson

An Uncomfortable Bit of Rope and Other Essays on the Binding of Isaac Chris Halverson

What makes a man write about the the binding of Isaac? His conviction that the center of such stories cuts much deeper than the knife wielded by the father. The blade digs into the unconscious, into sublimated experiences of humanity. In explaining child sacrifice we make plain our answers to questions we are afraid to ask without the veneer of this narrative subject. Contained in this book are some of these answers, mediated through retellings of this one event. The assumptions of the ancients are exposed in their explanations of the Binding of Isaac. The power differential between father and son makes the inheritance of faith, "truths," and authority a tenuous affair. In this new world we have entered violence must be decoupled from religion. The world cries out for continual re-interpretation of those stories that we find our foundation in.