Engel Exit.

Schubert, Peter Z.

Jachym Topol (b. 1962), an underground figure until the political changes of 1989, has written poetry (his 1980s poems were first officially published in his two collections of 1991 and 1992, although he was already awarded the Tom Stoppard Prize for them in 1988), texts for the rock bands Psi vojaci (Dog Soldiers), Narodni trida (National Avenue), and later Naceva (Naceva's 1996 album "Nebe je rudy" [The Sky Is Red] has parallels to the novel Engel Exit), and began to write prose in 1994. His first novel, Sestra (Sister; 1994), was an immediate smashing success, bringing the author both great popularity and critical acclaim for "a book of historical significance." Sestra was soon followed by a shorter prose work, Vylet k nadrazni hale (The Trip to the Railway Station; 1994), and finally by Andel (Angel; 1995). That third novel has now been translated into German as Engel Exit.

It remains open to question whether Engel Exit (Angel Exit) was inspired by the struggle of the Archangel Michael with the dragon, the biblical Revelations of Saint John wherein seven angels blow their trumpets after the seventh seal is broken, or perhaps by Gustav Meyrink's Angel of the Western Window. One could well argue the case for any of these three sources of inspiration. Topol's protagonist, Jatek, struggles not only with the biblical angel, or perhaps its mystical Meyrinkian form, but also with the Smichov Angel. The crossroads and subway station may seem rather banal to a casual observer, but it is an apocalyptic place to some. It lies in Prague's fifth district (Prague 5 used to be Josefov, the Jewish quarter), it is also the site of Rabbi Leraja's vision of his spiritual mentor, Angel Abraham, and the building of the local synagogue still recalls this event. Jatek even sees a hole here that swallows people, and blood falling down from the clouds (reminiscent of the fire mixed with blood thrown down to the ground in the third part of the Book of Revelations, and the similarity is further enhanced by the fire Jatek starts). These visions also recall Meyrink's protagonist, and the similarity is strengthened by the use of drugs on the part of both heroes.

There is more, however, than a simple struggle against the angel - or is it just a struggle against narcotic visions? Engel Exit can be read as a sociological study of narcotics addicts, former underground figures, and the other side of the postcommunist society. There is also the symbolism of names: Ljuba (love), Vera (faith), Nadja (hope), et cetera. Of course, the novel can be read too as a thriller about a man who flees from a religious sect (or a Mafia gang) that is trying to obtain his recipe for an extremely powerful narcotic. Unfortunately, the translator uses Berlin dialect to render the common Czech. He explains his reasons for doing so in a nine-page afterword. He refers to the relationship between German and Czech going back 3,000 years, moves forward to today's ordinary Czech, touches upon Hasek, and then discusses Topol and his rebelliousness through language. All this must be present, according to him, in the translation. The problem, however, is that although, as the name indicates, ordinary Czech is familiar to everyone, such is not the case with the Berlin dialect - a fact that may well prevent some German readers from enjoying Topol's book.

Peter Z. Schubert University of Alberta