Press
January 29, 2025
Dr. Ken Endo from Tokyo takes us inside Samar Yazbek’s ‘The Blue Pen’

Dr. Ken Endo from Tokyo takes us inside Samar Yazbek’s ‘The Blue Pen’

The Syrian Civil War: A Girl’s Inner World: Review by Ken Endo (International Political Scientist, Professor at the University of Tokyo) in Yomiuri Shimbun, published in October 6th, 2024

Some people stayed in Syria and fought against Assad’s dictatorship. The uprising led by the Free Syrian Army was almost entirely crushed by brutal means.

Trying to understand such devastation, we turn to the language of social science, which both helps and hinders. We know that President Assad attacked his own people with airstrikes and chemical weapons. In that context, we also touch on the fact that he relied on the power of Russian President Putin. However, the images we hold of what people actually endured under the bombs and chemicals are truly shallow and impoverished.

Syrian author Samar Yazbek’s novel delicately fills in these gaps, weaving the inner landscape of the protagonist, Rima, with the intricacy of lacework.

Rima, a teenager with a speech disorder, is rich in talent: she recites the Qur’an, tells stories, and draws. From an early age, she is unable to suppress her impulse to walk, which leads to her being restrained. Yet, when the civil war breaks out and she is fleeing across the country, she strives to walk freely. Each time, though, she loses her mother and brother at checkpoints or places of refuge. She decides to stay with Hasan, the boy she loves, even after she is freed from her restraints, but he too disappears.

In the end, everyone is gone. The dead bodies, poison gas, hunger, and thirst dominate. Rima moves between life and death, and eventually loses her once-beloved colors. Yet, she enters a mysterious world where she becomes a lamp, traveling through the sky and sea, creating stars. Her mother, Hasan, and Madam Suad—the woman who discovered her talents—appear, and the colors return.

The beautiful Japanese translation by Ayumi Yanagiya, from the original Arabic, captures this. According to the commentary, the protagonist’s understanding of herself—that her spirit is not in her head but in her feet—hints at freedom. In Arabic, the word for “head” also means “president.” In The Blue Pen, walking symbolizes not submitting to the “head.” (Published by Hakusuisha, 3,300 yen)