The Fire Within

work by Drieu La Rochelle

Also known as: “Le Feu follet”, “Will o’ the Wisp”

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June 26, 2026

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Le Feu follet, or The Fire Within, is a novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, published in 1931. The story follows the final hours of a young Parisian addict who commits suicide. This work, like much of Drieu La Rochelle's writing, explores themes of decadence and the loss of moral fiber in post-World War I French society. Drieu La Rochelle was a French writer whose life and works reflected the disillusionment common among European youth after the war. He was involved with the Surrealist movement and later became a proponent of fascism. He died by suicide in 1945.1

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Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
…and Le Feu follet (1931; The Fire Within, or Will o’ the Wisp; filmed by Louis Malle in 1963). Le Feu follet is the story of the last hours in the life of a young bourgeois Parisian addict who kills himself. In one fashion or another, the subject of decadence…
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…and Le Feu follet (1931; The Fire Within, or Will o’ the Wisp; filmed by Louis Malle in 1963). Le Feu follet is the story of the last hours in the life of a young bourgeois Parisian addict who kills himself. In one fashion or another, the subject of decadence…
Read More