Filip Topol (1965-2013) was a descendant of a famous literary family in the Czech Republic. He was the grandson of the writer Karel Schulz and son of the famous playwright and former dissident Josef Topol. Moreover, he was the younger brother of Jáchym Topol, currently the best-known representative of contemporary Czech literature. Yet, when hearing the name Filip Topol, few will associate it with literature. Indeed, he enjoys much more fame as a musician – singer, pianist and songwriter.

Topol was the frontman of the infamous band Psí Vojáci (Dog Soldiers), a band that has been at the centre of the alternative music scene in the Czech Republic for many years. He started making music at an early age and in 1979 he and his band, all made up of young adolescents, performed for the first time. One of the first gigs took place at the country house of the then dissident, and later president, Václav Havel. Topol was fully part of the Prague underground, a movement that opposed the official cultural policies of the repressive communist regime in those years. A reflection of that period can be found in Topol’s first novella Mně třináct (Am 13) from 1995, a diary in which he jotted down his adventures when he was 13. In an unadorned style, the reader is presented with Topol’s wild life in the late 1970s in Prague, a life larded with parties, friends, school, girlfriends, booze, drugs and, of course, music. This does not mean it is an obligatory adolescent story, far from it. It is original and gives a nice insight into the illustrious Prague underground. Topol uses slang, colloquialisms lavishly in this novella and as a whole it exudes authenticity. Indeed, he concludes his diary entries by saying that everything he has written down is true.

His passion remained making music, paying at least as much attention to the lyrics, which are of special literary quality. Initially, Filip used poems and lyrics by his brother and famously, he lured Jáchym to a studio and made him read poems from his novel Sestra (Sister). Filip secretly recorded the readings and later put his own composed music under them. Afterwards, he started writing more of his own lyrics, also with a strong poetic slant, which were periodically published in separate, small volumes.The music and lyrics took on an extra dimension during the live performances he gave alone or with his band. It was a real experience to see how Filip Topol, in everyday life a sensitive, quiet, amiable guy, underwent a metamorphosis as soon as he sat down at the piano. His reputation as a live performer has become legendary and has indeed led to legends surrounding it. For years, for instance, it has been rumoured that he played with razor blades between the keys, because he sometimes indulged himself to the point of blood on the piano. This rumour was partly inspired by the 1994 film Žiletky (Gillettes – razor blades), in which Filip starred. He himself had always denied this and, according to him, the whole story was based on a misunderstanding: ‘It’s called a kind of glissando when you go over the keys with your knuckles, and then it can happen that you do cut your fingers.’

The intensity with which Filip Topol performed and the poetry of his lyrics are also reflected in his prose work, and this is especially true of the novella The Trip to Corsica (1999). Like Am 13, it is an autobiographical work, in which he does not spare himself and candidly refers to his alcohol addiction. In a pleasant way, it is more erudite than his previous text, but it is certainly not swaggering or daunting. It is, however, a story full of feeling, in which he presents himself as a sensitive writer.

Novels

Mně 13 (Am 13)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1995)

Karla Klenotníka cesta na Korsiku (The Trip to Corsica)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1999)

Tři novely (Three short novels)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (2004)

Jako pes (As a dog)
Revolver Revue, Prague (2013)

Poetry

Psí Vojáci (Dog Soldiers)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1993)

Sakramiláčku (Damndarling)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1997)

Střepy (Splinters)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1999)

Národ Psích vojaků (The Nation of Dog Soldiers)
Maťa Publishers, Prague (1999)