# Found a long lost book!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-a-long-lost-book/914300>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 4, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-a-long-lost-book/914300 "2020-07-04T18:36:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-a-long-lost-book/914300/1 "2020-07-04T18:36:08Z")

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Back in high school French, we read a science fiction novel, _L’homme qui dormit cent ans_ (_The Man Who Slept 100 Years_). I finally was able to track down the author: one Henry Bernay.

The novel stuck in my mind. It was what the title says: an American Rip-Van-Winkles a century and tries to make do in the new world. It turns out, he cannot deal with all the changes.

About the only thing I remember other than the situation was the ending, which was memorably stupid. The man goes off to Australia, because it’s culturally _exactly the same_ as America was when he lived there.

Even then, I thought it was an awful ending – far too convenient and completely unbelievable. (I think it also portrayed his America by someone who had only seen westerns.)

I’d been searching from time to time for years (I had the title, but not the author). It’s great to find it does exist.

It’s too much to ask if anyone else has read it, but the lame ending always stuck in my mind.

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**Author:** ![Ryz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryz/32/13213_2.png) [@Ryz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryz)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-a-long-lost-book/914300/2 "2020-07-05T17:13:21Z")

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I haven’t read it, I can’t speak French. But I did find it for sale on Amazon.

[https://www.amazon.com/LHomme-Qui-Dormit-Cent-Book/dp/B001GN4BJ6](https://www.amazon.com/LHomme-Qui-Dormit-Cent-Book/dp/B001GN4BJ6)