I haven't read much but can certainly see his influence on Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. I just might read Joyce's Dubliners again. And as much as I have really liked Woolf, I realise I haven't read her first novel, "The Voyage Out". Jim thought it was really quite good so I may read that if this doesn't appeal.
Now this is a bit of serendipity:
The novels portray the world in which Proust grew up. His father was one of the most successful doctors in France, honoured for his work. He invented the "cordon sanitaire" - the quarantined ring around an infected area - that helped prevent the spread of cholera, a curse in all European cities in the late 19th century. He was a prominent pathologist and epidemiologist, studying cholera in Europe and Asia. He wrote numerous articles and books on medicine and hygiene.
In 1869, Adrien Proust (father of novelist Marcel Proust) proposed the use of an international cordon sanitaire to control the spread of cholera, which had emerged from India and was threatening Europe and Africa. Proust proposed that all ships bound for Europe from India and Southeast Asia be quarantined at Suez, however his ideas were not generally embraced.
