The Republic of the Southern Cross, and other stories

"The Republic of the Southern Cross, and other stories" by Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov is a compilation of short stories from the early 1900s where fantasy and reality blur. The book pays close attention to ideas about who we are, how we think, and the way society is set up. The stories are written in a style that is short but complicated, giving readers an inside look at what people want and are afraid of. The main story begins in a futuristic city called Zvezdny, located at the South Pole. This city seems like a perfect democratic place to live, but is secretly ruled by a small group of powerful people. The people of Zvezdny start to suffer from a strange mental illness that makes them do the opposite of what they want. This causes the city to fall apart, making us think about whether this made-up world is similar to our own.