The Seven Storey Mountain Reviews

• Poet, hermit and monk--a fascinating autobiography

  
  By A1IU7S4HCK1XK0 on 2003-05-12
  Thomas Merton was brilliant, skilled at literary criticism, a poet, analytical and creative. His sense of self, however, was a mixture of deep introspection and a measure of self-loathing. His spiritual seeking led him to a short stay with Trappist monks in Kentucky. As a result, he gave up his worldly career and embarked on a journey of spiritual seeking as a brother at the monastery.

  Merton loved music, women, good food, yet he also had a yearning to be free of the world. He describes the ascetic diet at the abbey--meat is forbidden, even fish not eaten, and the monks do heavy agricultural work on bread, vegetables, cheese, and in the evening, maybe a small dish of applesauce. Despite the hardships, Merton finds that becoming a priest is the most meaningful thing ever to happen to him.

  Merton's writing made him so famous he sought a hermitage at the abbey. He never seemed quite comfortable anywhere. His sense of discomfort with himself and his exquisite sensibility to spiritual heights make for fascinating reading.
  
  

• Second Time Around

  
  By on 2000-03-04
  I am currently reading this book forthe second time. I searched far and wide and finally found it at theHarvard University bookstore in 1993. It was, and still is, worth the effort. For anyone doubting why they are Catholic or the true depth of their faith, this is a must read. Merton speaks to the heart, soul, and mind as he tells the story of his journey to the Truth. Other great Merton books are "No Man is an Island" and "Thoughts in Solitude". Don't let the reader from San Francisco dissuade you. If you're looking for philosophy, as this person was, read Plato. If you wish to renew or strengthen your faith, read this book. END
  
  

• Give him points for zeal, but he glorifies selfishness

  
  By A1OB5L3WMHJAD9 on 2000-11-17
  THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN is Thomas Merton's autobiography, concentrating on his early life up to his Catholic conversion experience and entrance into a Trappist monastery.

  Comparisons abound between this work and the CONFESSIONS of St. Augustine, both authors address the book as much to God as to the reader, and they both look back scornfully and regretfully upon their lives before entry into the Church. However, Augustine has the upper hand here due to his immense honesty of his sins, while Merton alludes to sinful actions without exactly saying what he did wrong, leading the reader to wonder what exactly he's complaining about. Merton's fathering of an illegimate child while at Cambridge is a crucial event which leads to his leaving England, coming to New York and eventually into the Church, but is never plainly stated, and in fact one has to read the preface to find out what happened.

  Thomas Merton's convert zeal is impressive throughout the book, and that the book shows an inside view of a man's love for his God is its one redeeming factor. This reviewer's complain is that Merton claims to want to live a better life, but he spurns the poor and unfortunate people of the world, fleeing to solitude to work for his salvation alone. The reader would think, if only Merton had shown his love for God through helping the needy, we'd have one of the greatest charity workers in history. But instead, Merton comes across as an uncaring, incompassionate man.

  THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN is, of course, a story of conversion and is therefore written in a frenzy of love for God. His later works are much more concerned with ecumenicalism and world events from a monastic viewpoint, and so the reader should know that those books read differently.
  
  

• a wry blessing..

  
  By on 1999-07-02
  Thomas Merton's early years gave no clue as to the vast richness of spirit and intellect he would develop through out his life and share through his writings. He was the son of an itinerant painter, had an upbringing with little or no religious character, was a nondescript student, a rabble rouser.. not even a Catholic.. who at a point in his early manhood left the fast life of New York and knocked on the doors of a Kentucky monastary, to give over his life to austere celibacy and contemplation.. and profound internal enrichment. Seven Story Mountain has been compared to the Confessions of Augustine, but these books are of different timber. Merton's is a story told at a personal level, of a spiritual journey in a modern context. It does not try to compete with Augustine's intense intellectual and theological reasoning, preferring to dwell on the peace and joy of religious life, and more generally the meaning and responsibilities of all lives. You can't read this book without being charmed and blessed by the proximity to this rare bit of humanity and devotion in our very secular and material age.
  
  

• A journey of faith

  
  By A335YZBBIVQGCQ on 2000-12-01
  I have read and reread this book several times, and I always enjoy going back into the first half of the 20th century and taking the journey to faith with Thomas Merton, as he moves from childhood to self-absorbed teen to a dabbler in communism, to writer/intellectual, to searcher, to Catholic, to Trappist monk. What a journey!

  Merton writes in a clear, matter-of-fact, self-depreciating style that is quite attractive. He makes the reader feel as "if this too, could happen to them", because Merton himself is portrayed as just a common man - filled with sin and propensity for wrong decision-making, but on the road to God nevertheless.

  Merton shows us that our religious conversion is more than just a point in time: it is a journey in God.

  I would especially recommend this book to young adult Catholics and those who were not in the Catholic Church during the pre-Vatican II period. The book goes into a fair amount of detail regarding Merton's experience in that Church, and for this reason, might be of interest to those who have come into the Catholic Church since the mid-1960's.
  
  

• After "The Confessions," maybe the best-ever 'autobiography of Faith'
  By ABCE4OXCDHEQL on 2008-06-28
  
  
  Today I delivered a gift copy of this book to a widow, "Grace" whose husband had been my late father's closest childhood friend. A week earlier, Grace had asked: "Have you ever read Thomas Merton's SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN? I read it in 1953; and found it very moving. I'd love to find a copy and read it again."
  
  When I presented her with a new copy of this edition, I asked if I could read aloud my favorite passage (early in the book) concerning Thomas Merton's `little brother' John Paul (five years younger) who, like his older brother was a French-born, American citizen.
  
  Late in the book Thomas Merton tells us how John Paul was compelled early in WWII to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (and trained right here in Manitoba! John Paul Merton had been flying bombing runs over a real sandy desert on the prairie just outside nearby Camp Shilo, where today's Canadian Artillery Officers still train. My late father was flown at Canadian Army expense each year, late in life, to address the graduating officers at that camp: Small world!)
  
  Just before leaving for overseas, John Paul flew to see his older brother Thomas and, not incidentally, be Baptized, and welcomed into the Catholic faith. Then he left for England (and was killed in action the next year, when his RAF bomber went down over the English Channel).
  
  His death provides the moving culmination to this book - bringing the reader `full circle' from the moment (back on page 25) when Thomas Merton introduces us to John Paul. (What follows is the passage that moves me to tears when I read it aloud to a friend.)
  
  ------
  
  "One thing I would say about my brother, John Paul: My most vivid memories of him, in our childhood, all fill me with poignant compunction at the thought of my own hard-heartedness, and his natural humility and love.
  
  "I suppose it's usual for elder brothers, when they are still children, to feel themselves demeaned by the company of a brother, four or five years younger, whom they regard as a baby, and tend to patronize and look down upon.
  
  "So when Russ and Bill and I (older brothers all) made huts in the woods out of boards and tar paper . . . we severely prohibited John Paul, and Russ' younger brother Tommy and their friends from coming anywhere near us. If they did try to come and get into our hut, or even to look at it, we would chase them away with stones.
  
  "When I think now about that part of my childhood, the picture I get of my brother John Paul is this: standing in a field a hundred yards away from our hut, is this little perplexed five-year-old kid in short pants and a kind of leather jacket, standing quite still; his arms hanging down at his sides.
  
  "He is gazing in our direction, afraid to come any nearer on account of the stones, as insulted as he is saddened, and his eyes full of indignation and sorrow. And yet he does not go away. We shout at him to go away, beat it, go home, and wing a couple more rocks in that direction. We tell him to play some other place. He does not move.
  
  "And there he stands, not sobbing, not crying, but angry and unhappy and offended and tremendously sad. And yet he is fascinated by what we are doing, nailing shingles all over our new hut. And his tremendous desire to be with us and to do what we are doing will not permit him to go away.
  
  "The law written in his nature tells him he must be with his elder brother and do what he is doing, and he cannot understand why this law of love is being so wildly and unjustly violated in his case.
  
  "Many times are like that, and in a sense, this terrible situation is the pattern and prototype of all sin: the deliberate and formal will to reject disinterested love for us, for the purely arbitrary reason that we simply do not want it. We `will' to separate ourselves from that love; we reject it entirely and absolutely, and will not acknowledge it, because it does not please us to be loved . . . "
  
  [Thomas Merton immediately recalls an astounding event] "when our `gang' tried to antagonize the extremely tough Polish kids who had formed a gang in nearby Little Neck (approaching their headquarters) and "from a very safe distance we would challenge them to come out and fight" (but) "nobody came out - perhaps (that day) there was nobody home."
  
  But then came the day, Merton recalls, "one cold and rainy afternoon, when we observed that numbers of large and small figures, varying in age from 10 to 16, most of them very brawny" gathered outside the Merton home, "20 or 25 of them. There were four of us."[hiding inside].
  
  "The climax of the situation came when Frieda, our German maid, told us that she was very busy with housecleaning and we must all get out of the house immediately. Without listening to our extremely nervous protests, she chased us out the back way . . . we made our way through back yards to the safety of Bill's house" [a block away, with a clear view across a field, of the Merton home].
  
  "And then an extraordinary thing happened. The front door of our house opened. My little brother John Paul came walking down the steps with a certain amount of dignity and calm. He crossed the street (and) walked toward the Little Neck gang. They all turned towards him. He kept on walking and walked right into the middle of them.
  
  "One or two of them took their hands out of their pockets. John Paul just looked at them, turning his head to one side and then the other. And he walked through the middle of them and no one ever touched him.
  
  "And so he came to the house where we were. We did not chase him away."
  
  -------
  
  The book closes with a poem written by Thomas Merton upon learning of his brother's death in the North Sea: "I learned that John Paul was severely injured in the crash but managed to keep himself afloat, even tried to support the pilot who was already dead.
  
  "He was very badly hurt; maybe his neck was broken. He lay in the bottom of the dinghy in delirium. He was terribly thirsty. He kept asking for water. But they didn't have any. It didn't last too long. He had three hours of it and then he died. His companions had more to suffer, and were finally picked up and taken to safety five days later. On the fourth day they had buried John Paul at sea."
  
  The chapter concludes with Thomas Merton's poetic requiem for his "dear brother" asking their Maker to,
  
  "Take my breath . . .
  and buy yourself a better death . . .
  And buy you back to your own land
  The silence of Whose tears shall fall
  Like bells upon your alien tomb.
  Hear them and come,
  They call you home."
  
  Thomas Merton died 40 years ago (on the 20th anniversary of his book's first publishing) while attending a conference of Eastern and Western monks in Thailand (electrocuted by a faulty table lamp in his Bangkok hotel room).
  
  This "Fiftieth Anniversary Edition" includes a delightful "Note to the Reader" from William H. Shannon, founding president of the International Thomas Merton Society, who recalls that, from the very first day in print (October 4, 1948) the book was "an instant success: Hailed as a modern day version of the `CONFESSIONS' of St. Augustine, it has continued to sell and sell and sell."
  
  As Evelyn Waugh, no easy critic, wrote prophetically: It "might well prove to be of permanent interest in the history of religious experience."
  
  Buy a copy and see for yourself (I highly recommend this edition).
  
  Mark Blackburn
  Winnipeg Canada
  
  
  
  
  
• This book is the kind that changes your life and perception
  By on 1999-09-18
  Remarkable, stirringly beautiful, often overflowing into religious ecstasy, the author fills the reader with admiration, respect, and perhaps even a little envy of that rare breed who are drawn to a life in quest of the root of their being. Many times during this book I felt longing creep quietly into the back of my mind, raising the questions that we so often evade - what is the true purpose of our life, and are these brave adventurers the people who alone have fulfilled our calling as human beings? Reading this book is a responsibility, a responsibility to listen to this voice and hear it out, a responsibility to be prepared to have our lives changed by this quiet urging we all hear, but often refuse to listen to. Do not expect to read 'The Seven Storey Mountain' and walk away the same person. You won't.
  
  
• I love you, Merty!
  By A335EU66PEV0RL on 2003-10-15
  It has been a couple of years since I read this autobiography. From the perspective of an always aspiring writer and poet, I applaud this piece of literature for capturing the interest of even the most adamant unbeliever or un-anchored agnostic simply for the raw and accessible story which it conveys. From the stand-point of a spiritual seeker, a self-censoring #4 on the Enneagram (read "Merton: An Enneagram Profile", by Suzanne Zuercher), and a religious tolerant (which Merton certainly became in his later life), I connected with it instantly on a very intimate level.

  I can honestly credit Merton for inspiring me to investigate Christianity much more deeply without the usual repugnance and negative bias I had approached it with before, and has since become one of my favorite writers, artists, thinkers, and Christians... period!

  Merton was a very "human" being. His struggles with pride, ego, Biblical understanding, lust, vanity, etc. may help the spiritually inclined reader to accept his or her own flaws in a more forgiving light. He reminds us that nobody is perfect.

  I highly recommend this book to both the fan of compelling autobiography, and to the aspiring contemplative.
  
  

• Review of Seven Storey Mountain
  By AKW8U57YJ19QJ on 1999-12-09
  A must read for any Catholic, or any non-Catholic for that matter. How fortunate that I was allowed to witness through this book the spritual journey of such a faith-filled individual. Thomas Merton is one of the extraordinary writers of this century. What a gift he has in revealing so much of himself through his writing, yet it spoke to me of my ownself and my own faith in God. I loved it!
  
  
• Thomas Merton: Climbing the Mountain
  By A2A6CXJ9M0UCH5 on 2001-06-30
  After reading Thomas Merton’s “The Seven Storey Mountain,” and being amazed at what I read, I want to set down the reaction I had to this powerful book. Merton’s story of his faith, from its virtual nonexistence to conversion and then finding his true vocation deeply touched my spirit and enabled me to reexamine a portion of my spirituality that, like the author’s at my age, was severely neglected. I hesitate to say that Merton’s personal “confessions” changed my life, because that phrase is so cliché. However, as a fellow convert, journeying from uncertainty and darkness to light and joy, I connected on that level with him immediately. The sentiments I share with him are best expressed through his words. I hope to convey some sense of the pervasive effects of faith and love on life, which Merton explored. The masterful unity, coherence, and balance of his words can only come from a life of faith...

  A question remains: why does Merton’s story continue to fascinate and speak to so many after 50 years? The fact that his works remain in print and are available in over 20 languages suggest that it is at least profitable to keep them on bookstore shelves and inventories....Merton’s works are not dated, but continue to affect millions. They are classics, even when viewed on a purely economic scale, discounting substance and material. Robert Giroux, a personal friend of Merton, quotes Mark Van Doren, an influential professor in his and Merton’s life, in his introduction to “The Seven Storey Mountain:” “A classic is a book that remains in print” (xviii). I agree with [a reviewer] to an extent when he skeptically questions, “But I doubt that any of us would have heard of him or his writings if he hadn’t become a monk. As a lay writer, he would have been forgotten long ago.” Robert Giroux addresses this quandary in the introduction: “Why did the success of the Mountain go so far beyond my expectations as an editor and publisher?” (xvi). The spiritual yearning and search for peace in a nuclear age and cold war, where small children in innocence were taught to duck under their desks in case of an attack, certainly plays a role, as Giroux notes. But, “Merton’s story was unusual – a well-educated and articulate young man withdraws – why? – into a monastery” (xvi). Why indeed would a man deny a lucrative career as professor, writer, and intellectual to perform continual penance in an isolated abbey? This intriguing question and unique situation provides the initial draw to the “Mountain.” To modern middle-class America, the idea that someone would give up “profit and financial security for asceticism and penance seems strange. Perhaps readers were awkwardly convicted by the notion that something more substantial existed than a cold beer and hot shower in order to be happy, and that someone had found this something more. However, after curiosity attracts, Merton holds the reader’s attention on his own merits. After the head-turning surprise, arresting the passer by in mid stride, he must or, as so many carnival attractions, rapidly relinquish their hold as soon as it is established. Merton’s belief he places in the Church is humbling, and provides a draw much stronger than gaudy language or verbal theatrics, even if the reader does not agree with his philosophies. The passion he displays in his words and the yearning for spiritual union with God is so plain in his heart that he propels the reader like the promise of an oasis drives a nomad through endless deserts. Merton gives his reader, a fellow spiritual pilgrim, whether they know it or not, a clear draught to refresh and fortify. And, as Merton ends his story and takes leave, he offers a final piece of advice: “Sit finis libri, non finis quaerendi – Let this be the end of the book, but not the end of the search” (462).

  I have written a longer essay on this book - if you want to read it, send me an email at GOPForever@yahoo.com
  
  

• Each Read Encourages Me In My Faith
  By A3AOW3FA6INUUU on 2001-02-03
  The Seven Storey Mountain is my favorite book. I've read it several times. Any time I feel distant from God, I pick up this book. Without fail, my faith increases, I contemplate God more often and I feel the interiorly peaceful warmth of union with Christ.

  Even though that last paragraph may have been a bit "sappy," consider the fact that Merton is a lot like you and I. He drifted from one ideology to the next. He explored humanism, communism, and a lot of other isms. Merton had several failings. He was ambitious, and at times during his journey, he was an arrogant intellectual.

  The beauty of The Seven Storey Mountain is that, with God's help, Merton became a great lover of God. He overcame these faults, and in so doing, he has paved a road for the rest of us.

  Merton, if he were alive, would be the first to tell you that you don't have to join a monastery to find happiness in God. But that was Merton's joyful calling.

  The Seven Storey Moutain follows Merton's life as he followed his artist father around the world from France to Long Island to the Carribean to England and back to New York.

  All can profit spiritually from this book. Like many, Merton was successful in secular ways and, in taking stock of his life, found that he was still unhappy. Merton found his place with God and, perhaps, this book will help you do the same. Buy this book and read it several times over.
  
  

• A book that makes you face yourself and turn to God
  By on 2000-08-11
  I'm reading this book for the 2nd time -- the 1st time changed my life. Funny, that seems to be a recurrent theme in these reviews. I started reading it expecting a dense academic work, and was VERY pleasantly surprised to find that it is a life-changing book and a good read to boot. Merton is unbelievable; his candid (and funny) observations about himself, his self-absorbtion, his pride and his misery made me so clearly see the same things in myself, and humbly sprint back into God's arms. P.S. -- In response to the reviewer who was disappointed because Merton didn't discuss having a child out of wedlock in the book (How dare we compare the book to St. Augustine's Confessions?): It is my understanding that, in his original manuscript, Merton was very frank about his past, including the pregnancy. However, his superiors at Gethsemene made him take it out, "cleaning the book up" a bit for his 1950s audience.
  
  
• Gives Saint Augustine a Run for his Money
  By A11GO5VA74HD8K on 2006-03-06
  How does one rate a man's spiritual autobiography? This is a self-examination shared with us of a man's passage from an aimless, meaningless life to a meaningful communion with his God, and we assign little stars to it? It seems almost funny in a surreal way, but this man's moving life story and the way in which he organizes this story with great subtlety according to the pattern of Dante's "Divine Comedy" definitely earns five stars by such conventions.
  
  I had already read Merton's collection of articles "Mystics and Zen Masters" more out of my interest in Zen (what does a Christian monk say about it?), but reading that made me want to know more about the guy himself, so this was definitely the right book for that purpose. What I sensed in the prior book was an ability to appreciate other contemplative religious traditions not through some mushy new-age relatiivism but rather through a very solid grounding in his own tradition; in "Seven Storey Mountain" he shares the long and painful process that led to that grounding, and interestingly at an earlier stage when he was less open to the validity of other paths up to the peak. He may come across as a bit dogmatic to some here, but it makes sense that he needed to devote himself wholeheartedly to his way until he had matured spiritually (also, Catholics have endured a long history of discrimination in the US, so perhaps they're a bit defensive sometimes. Then too, converts such as Merton, having consciously chosen a faith, tend to really be gung ho for it). Anyway, he calls it like he sees it, which is part of the total sum of sincerity that makes this such a superb, five star spiritual autobiography.
  
  
• "A Merton" Merton Never Abandoned
  By A1DY76WWMG7927 on 2005-07-20
  "Seven Storey Mountain" will always rank as one of Thomas Merton's (Fr. Louis's) greatest written works.
  
  While in later years, Merton himself at times was dismissive of it (and we "all" grow and evolve and look back at earlier work and thought as perhaps "lacking"), this work set the groundwork and foundation for ALL of what was to follow from the heart, mind, and pen of this true monk. Had merton not thought as he wrote in this volume, nothing that he came to discover and uncover and write later would have likely come to pass. . . and certainly not in such an incisive and decisive way. Like it or not, Merton, from his monastery in Gethsemany KY and his hermitage affected the world.
  
  From his earliest spiritual encounter with "the Little flower" St. Therse of Lisieux, Merton recounts his pilgrimage into monasticism and his transformation and evolution into a monk . . . and it was and is exactly as a monk that Merton ingests and digest the world and world events and relationships and shapes a view which we are able to read and think on to help us formulate our own.
  
  "Seven Storey Mountain" presents us with "the man" who discovered "God" and his place in relationship to God and to his neighbors . . . if you want to undertand anything else Merton edver wrote or thought . .even his later encounters with "non-christian" monasticism, you MUST read THIS volume first . . . Merton never abandoned this starting point . . he wandered and meandered through a world beseiged with turmoils, hatreds, wars, prejudices, limitations, and cultures and religious diversities . . and he met them "on their own terms . . but always as "this monk" . . .this monk whom you will meet and grow to admire in the pages of THIS volume.
  
  i would go so far as to say if you only ever read ONE book by Thomas Merton, make it THIS ONE: "The Seven Storey Mountain". You will never be the same . . . and you will always remember it . . . and you will look at the world . . your life . .the lives of others . .at monasticism . .at everything differently . . . more positively and meaningfully.
  
  Thank you Thomas Merton (Fr. Louis) for all that you prayed . . and meditated . .and wrote . . . you are missed by many . . needed by many more today more than ever . . but we can still find you in your published works . . . and in this book, "The Seven Storey Mountain"! :)
  
  
• The Call of the Wild
  By A48THA5X4OUAB on 2006-07-26
  This story of youthful conversion strangely remains the most famous of Merton books, and is usually called a "classic spiritual autobiography" though it is really neither. Which is not to say it lacks value; it is evident that decades after publication it retains its original power for many. Doubtless its status owes a lot to its partial inarticulateness, and the obvious youth of its subject. Others at about the same stage of life may justly understand it and prize those qualities, and gloss over its faults. It has a certain unabashed personal quality that cannot be faked.
  
  Truth is, the Merton who penned this book was somewhat self-dramatizing, a quality that cannot be attributed to his order, his abbot, censors, etc. He came indeed to recognize this later. His sins, such as they were at this stage of life, have been documented in Michael Matt's authoritative biography, and are not significantly out of the ordinary for a son of Bohemian parents and an orphan at early age. The self-chastisement for wine, women, and song is way overdone; all his youthful friends male and female grew up to be solid citizens and they really were not that far off the beam from the start.
  
  So much for straight autobiography; as far as its spiritual side it demonstartes a refreshingly candid acceptance of Catholic devotional life, but nothing of the dimensionality and erudition the writer later became famous for. The dismissal of certain Protestant spiritual paths is superficial and arch, and later embarrassed Merton himself. Yet again, this is what he himself wanted to put in; no one forced him to do it. The funny thing was that young Merton was simultaneously doing some good straight journal writing, some remarkable modernist fiction (My Argument With the Gestapo plus some lost manuscripts) and interesting poetry.
  
  Simply, the effort was an early attempt to reinvent himself on paper. He later (and not greatly later) discovered this was impossible. The appeal in its own day was that it struck a chord in many in the immediate post-World War 2 world, emblematic of a second "lost generation."
  
  But where lies its continuing appeal? One can only surmise that it strikes a continuing chord. In many ways, the 2nd world war never ended. The materialism and consumerism that became more evident in its wake never let up, and is now in hyperdrive. People know in their gut there is much more; a few will always leave the pack and go exploring in that direction. Most will excuse a few unsightly warts for a personal statement that is still broadly honest, where it counts. And finally, there is the singular facet of the choice for a devotional life. Although of course this will never make sense to many, even many Catholics from those days or from now, still this is a definable chunk of any human population that will never go away -- that remnant who will follow this true sort of "call of the wild" and follow the lamb anywhere.
  
  
• The spiritual journey of a Renaissance man
  By ARM05FHWIOH5B on 1999-09-01
  The Seven Storey Mountain takes the reader on the spiritual journey of Thomas Merton - poet, scholar, world traveler - as he makes his way to God. Merton is a true Renaissance man of the modern world, who has experienced what the secular world has to offer - and, finally chooses the solitude and silence of a Trappist monastery. This is to be his vehicle for coming closer to God. That he chooses to share his journey with the reader is like opening the doors of a house of great riches for all to experience. Merton willingly gives the reader a glimpse into his soul and the result is unforgettable. Each reader will take something different from these riches - depending on where he is at on his own journey.
  
  
• A Life Changing Book
  By on 2001-10-13
  I read this book six years ago, in my last semester in college, and, through the travels and travails of my life since then, I've kept it not far from my side. I must admit that I am not Catholic, and never will be, and that I struggle every day with my faith (something Merton could relate to). What I related to most, though, was the fact that this man struggled constantly with issues so terribly neglected in modern times: issues surrounding charity, asceticism, non-violence, and the downside of capitalism. One can cull a tremendous amount of very relevant social criticism from this book, a good sixty years after it was written. I would have to argue, though, that at the point of authorship of Seven Storey, Merton owed only a few of his ideas to the left. He was overwhelmed with an idealistic, Christian/Utopian vision of peace, love and charity. This left him very untied to the outside world, however often he argued that Gethsemani was the "real American." I have struggled with Christian utopianism for years, quite convinced that it could never work, and at other times believing that it is the only true salvation for humanity. Merton naively believed that the struggles of mankind, as impermanent as they were, might be solved through the sense of humility and charity that the "real" Catholic church brings. It is a huge, impossible dream. And, in escaping to Gesthemani, perhaps he was escaping from the thorny issues that surround such idealism. But, for the most part, he was right on. The rot that was (and is) Western civilization, built layer by layer for centuries, was finally seeing its stinking fruition at the time of his conversion and subsequent vocation in the Catholic church. With American hegemony, in the present time, we have not seen the rot disappear, only to take upon a different mutation. What I believe is the very essence of Christianity: non-violence and
  charity, has been replaced by an amorphous and greedy capitalist system that keeps pace with the continuation of a military-industrial complex. Civilization holds on by a thread. In this new century, we continue to avoid peaceful answers. And although he did not have all the best solutions, Merton asked most of the right questions.
  
  
• The Gateway to Merton
  By A28ZN9L5P6PDKP on 2002-04-03
  The Seven Storey Mountain is by no means Thomas Merton's Masterpiece. But it is his most well-known work. Many people only know Merton for this, the biography of his early years. This can lead people to an uneven view of Merton and his worldview. A good antidote to this particular problem is to read either Merton's Journals or his Letters. They give a much broader view of Merton's developing thought.

  Yet this book is not without its charms. How all the subsequent efforts of his biographers, no one has told the story of this period of Merton's life better than Merton. There are indispensable insights, biographical as well as spiritual, to be gained from this book. It is still probably the best place to start with Merton. I recommend it.
  
  

• A trip worth taking...
  By A3NCKDPCAUOD4T on 2006-03-06
  Without a firm line on Thomas Merton, one may initially wonder why his autobiographical tale possesses more merit than anyone elses. He, like countless others, led a life of profligacy consumed by the demands of self-gratification. He like countless others, afforded the material world far more of himself than it deserved. And, he, like *all* others, did not innately recognize the roots of true happiness. So, how is Thomas Merton different?
  
  Well, for starters, he did something about it.
  
  How many times have men and women stopped to wonder whether the quest for material gain is all that a life can offer? And how many times have men and women acknowledged the gnawing pit in their stomach with the suspicion that it can't possibly be? More importantly, however, who among us has been courageous enough to do something about it? Merton's journey from profligate young man to a member of the Trappist order cannot be everyone's response to temporal challenge, but it was a natural transition for him and one by which we all can profit.
  
  The Seven Storey Mountain is only part autobiography for it is well-supported by spiritual pillars. It is the story of one man's trek to God, but certainly not of one man's temptations. We all face the paradox. We can strive for material gain, we can bend to self-gratification, but in the end we find that the results of such efforts fall short of true contentment. Merton's personal solution speaks volumes to the typical suburban striver and, though it may not vault one towards the monastery, gives the reflective reader reason to pause. It, perhaps, illuminates the daily routine of material gain for what it is: gain for gain's sake. And it may inform us that there is more to this life than first meets the eye. At the very least it should inform us to look for what is not readily evident, to look further down the road and, perhaps, to both sides.
  
  The Seven Storey Mountain is a journey unto itself and the patient reader will reap it's rewards. I am no mystical, New Age daydreamer, but I've learned that cold pragmatism will not suffice to furnish a life well-lived and well-loved. Thomas Merton addressed these issues with grace and humility; two virtues from which we all could benefit more. 5 stars.
  
  
  
  
• A beautiful meditation on sacrifice
  By A3RTM9HJW4912M on 2006-07-09
  Thomas Merton gave up wordly and litarary fame to become a Trappist monk. In this heavy volume, he discusses how much for the better his life changed. Though I was not raised in this country, I found his sacrifice and subsequent enlightenment beautiful. His veneration and deep understanding of the role of Mary, Mother of God, in our Church is unusual in a Protestant convert but wonderful. Some of his thoughts echo Cardinal Newman, also a wonderful Catholic writer and convert, especially his wonder at the unswerving, unchanging faith and dogma of the Church. Truly an important read for all converts to Catholicism and for all Catholics seeking to return to the wonder and beauty of the faith.
  
  
• Hard to Rate - Easy to Read
  By A17P5MTF6KR2DV on 2001-11-14
  This book generates many responses, depending on the reader's state of mind when he picks it up.

  I read it at a very critical point in my life, and it started me on a journey that ended, like Merton, in the Catholic Church, but not in a monastery. Why? I don't know. It's not great literature. It is nothing like his later works, written after he matured in ways that he would never have expected when this was written. It is an 'immature' book. He's reported to have said later in life that he wished he had never written it. But he did, and it's a good thing.

  It gives us a starting point. Other contemplatives probably went through many of these feelings, but not many of them wrote at this point in their lives. Merton talked later about the irony of forsaking all possessions in the morning, and signing the publishing contract for this book in the afternoon. That tension stands out here. The man stands in two worlds. One (his past) that he has rejected, but can not let go of, and the other that he needs (is there any other reason for becoming a monk?), but hasn't grown into.

  This is his story. It's not the story of a monk. It's not the story of a secular man. It's the story of a man who was to become one of the most influential monks of the century, almost in spite of himself, but he wasn't there yet. He's still new, caught up in bliss, not yet aware of the things that come with the life he had chosen (or had chosen him, if you want to say it that way).

  As I said, it is a hard book to rate. There are times in a sincere man's life when it is going to speak to something within him. If it does, this could be one of the most interesting things he will ever read.
  
  

• Boring and Uninspiring
  By A3SH9FQFKXJ3FU on 2003-11-20
  I struggled through 350 pages of this book before finally giving up. It was extremely boring and as another reviewer aptly put it 'flat and wooden'. As a Catholic convert who has read a fair number of conversion stories (both ancient and modern) this book pales in comparison. I have read conversion stories which are 1/10th the length, but which pack 10 times the inspirational punch. The favorable comparison of this book with St. Augustines Confessions is absurd and insulting to this great saint. The chief problem seems to be that Merton is so self absorbed that he is really writing a book about himself instead of about God, or his relationship with God. This self centeredness fits in perfectly with modern society and probably explains why so many people are fond of it. For the well read Catholic looking to be inspired, steer clear of this mundane book and take a look at something like Saint Therese of Lisieux's 'Story of a soul', or G.K. Chesterton's 'Orthodoxy'. Please don't waste your time or money on this book
  
  
• Powerful and timeless
  By A39WL61420S1T6 on 2005-02-02
  Merton's book offers refuge and sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Like the monastery to which he fled as a young man, this book is an island of peace and serenity in a world that often seems geared to over-stimulate us and make us forget what's truly important in life.
  
  "The Seven Storey Mountain" describes Merton's life from birth to the beginning of his religious vocation as a Trappist monk. Along the way, the reader watches as Merton grows and develops, travelling across Europe, dabbling in Communism, educating himself at Oxford and, later, Columbia, seeking fame and fortune as a writer, and wondering at last if he might be called to the monastery.
  
  Merton's true gift is an ability to describe his life while also transcending it. He writes not to explain his life, but to explain what he's learned about all life, about our relationships with each other and with God, about how we strive for spiritual development and how we sometimes fall short.
  
  One major flaw with this book is its lack of frankness when dealing with Merton's college years. The book's vagueness about his decision to leave England and come to the U.S. leaves the reader wondering if Merton is making much ado about nothing. What many readers may not know is that Merton had gotten a girl pregnant and was told by his stepfather that he should leave the country and restart his education in the U.S. Years later, when writing the book, Merton had reportedly wanted to detail this episode of his life, but was overruled by members of his religious order. Because of this, the book suffers, and the uninformed reader loses some sense of the size of the mountains Merton climbed to reach his final destination.
  
  In the end, though, flaws and all, this is still an indispensable book. It often seems to be speaking directly to the reader, offering insights and wisdom that linger long after the final page is turned.
  
  
• Great read for the Faithful and non-faithful alike
  By A1MITA0PNSIRK2 on 2005-11-26
  I would like to state first that this edition is not the exact edition that I read. The one that I read featured a strangely imaginative cover of a "seven storey mountain" that was quite interesting to look at(perhaps more like a fantasy cover) as I made my way along the long journey woven with in this book.
  Ah this book was great, like a soothing cup of tea it works on many levels. First of all, this is wonderfully written. I was instantly drawn in to his life, from his childhood, to his college days, to his partying days, to his Trappist Days.
  This book reminded me that as different as things are today then in Merton's day they are essentially the same. He stayed out at clubs until four in the morning, just as Kerouac did, and most young poeple do today. It's really so familiar, and accessible.
  I think about this book often. I think about how Merton must have wandered the streets of Manhattan looking for his faith, and living a very "Manhattan" life. It's amazing to think that a man that can write so lovingly of one of the most urban modern populated settings in the entire world could find more peace on essentially a farm, a Trappist One at that.
  This book was given to my college room mate by his father who asked him as a favor to read it. He never did, but somehow it found its way into my hands. I opened it up, and was taken in by the beautiful openness of the story, and the very elegant style.
  I had read On the Road by Kerouac, and many other "classic american novels" that many read while at College, but I wondered why this was left off of the list. It seems only to be on "Catholic" or "Christian" lists. I don't think that is fair of this book. It transcends any genre. It's simply a great read. Yes it has a preachy tone. I appreciate that because it's honest. Believers believe. And if someone is a believer then that should definitely come out in thier story. Merton later tones his Faith down adopting a more 'inclusive' tone to his writings, and subjects of his writings as well, but this is written by a very fresh believer. It's written by someone burning to tell thier story, and why they think that thier story is important. And I believe that this story is important, important to anyone that wants to read one of the best autobiographies in American literature, as well as anyone that wants to be touched by a beautiful story of conversion from a very artistic intellectual yet empty life. He had his art, and his ideas, but there was still a hole. And the story of how that hole is ultimately filled is here interwoven in a beautifully honest way.
  
  
• Interesting, inspiring, & thoughtful
  By A11NL2A0RDEGF on 2006-07-10
  I'm not a Catholic and knew nothing of Thomas Merton, but came across this book by following links of "customers who bought this, also bought..." and by reading Amazon reviews. I was not disappointed. Reading like a novel at times, this book is an autobiography of a faith. I was very impressed with the author's search for a faith, his many trials and searches in the wrong place, and his determination to find somthing "bigger than himself." This book written over 50 years ago is dated in ways by theology and politics that seem out of place now; however, the overall impact of Merton's search is well worth the effort to read. This book is for someone who is searching for a deep quiet faith -- one that is found through searching, reading, praying and worshiping quietly and individually.
  
  This book is not in the same category of many popular Christian writings of this time. Thomas Merton's faith is one that was found in an ancient church and many ancient writings. It was a faith found through traditional liturgy and reading. I don't think Merton would have been comfortable in many of the modern churches (both Protestant or Catholic) that attempt to mold worship to meet cultural demands.
  
  Thanks to all the reviewers who so aptly described this book and caused me to want to read it. I hope others will find it equally as inspiring.
  
  
• For the Deeply Contemplative
  By A2CL58RCR47006 on 2002-05-31
  Thomas Merton is a wonderful voice for the spiritual yearning that lies within us all. Merton, a trappist monk expressed the spirituality of so many people that longed for a religion that could both function within the bounds of Christianity and bring it to life. Thus it is with this poet, monk, and student of the Zen Masters the world recieved a new voice on its oldest subject. In this book, Merton's spiritual autobiography, one comes in contact with a truly beautiful human being. This book has my nomination for the great twentieth century American novel. It is a book in which every word echoes the warmth and passion of its author.
  Thomas, You will be sadly missed.
  
  
• Very open, shareful. Makes you want Merton for a friend.
  By A2EWJ2UI0NZLYI on 2004-01-12
  Merton knew how to plow through his past life so that the grace of God, the spirit of Christ would become so apparent in all that happened to him and through him in this autobiography.

  No sentimentalism. No archaic language. His descriptions of the Eucharist and the other sacraments are clean and fresh and deep and vivid, touching the reader with a strange, immediate conviction. His words pulsate with faith. He makes you say, "well, maybe I don't know..."

  I think Merton brings the worldly closer to the church and the churchy closer to the world. People don't know where to place him. You cannot stick a label on him.

  This book is great for just anyone. Those who are cradle Catholics will benefit greatly from this man who came into the church, this man who was so biased against anything Catholic, and yet who came in no contact with any "crisis" that suddenly made him say, "LORD! LORD!". No. That is, no crisis of the "world". It was spiritual. The account of "something" that happened to him while laying in his bed is simple and vivid.

  He makes you realize that what is spiritual has to do with what is human.
  
  

• An Enduring Spiritual Classic
  By A2GJ98824GGXGP on 2004-09-06
  Thomas Merton's "The Seven Storey Mountain" is one of the classics of Christian literature and was one of the best selling books of the twentieth century. It will last well into this century as well. There is something about a worldly man giving up so much of the promise that life has to offer to live the austere life of a monk. While the book somewhat echoes St. Augustine's "Confessions," we see more of the emptiness of Merton's life prior to his conversion to Catholicism than we would find in Augustine's work as well as the role that faith played in his life. Readers are fascinated with Merton's life, and even if it cannot be emulated by most of us, we admire Merton's willingness to enter a monastery and it helps us re-evaluate our own faith.
  
  One of the things that I find interesting about "The Seven Storey Mountain" is the way it can speak differently to a person over the years. I first became acquainted with the book when I came across an old, dusty and mildewy copy of the book in our cellar. I was probably in the sixth or seventh grade and decided to read it but put it down after one page when I was told I was too young to understand it. This inspired me to one day read the book. I finally read it while I was in college and saw Merton as an adventurer, and could relate to the boldness of his actions and the reality of his faith. As I have gotten older and reread the book or passages of the book, I see his writings differently, yet they still speak to me. Merton becomes less of a bold maverick and more of a person seeing what our hearts are all seeking, but not necessarily finding it. He becomes less of a hero and more of a person whose flaws speak as powerfully as his insights and discoveries about faith. In this way he is very much like his literary ancestor, St. Augustine.
  
  Over the years interested in Merton seems to grow. At the time this review is being written, his works are being republished and a biography of Merton using his actual journal is now available. This first book is essential for anyone who has even a casual interest in Merton. Readers with an interest in Merton may also find Paul Elie's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" helpful as well. This book, which also looks at the lives of Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, and Dorothy Day, puts Merton in both a historical and literary context.
  
  
  
• Ah, Merton.
  By A14PU5YTBPP5RU on 2000-05-01
  If I am of any religion, I am probably a confused blend of Taoist and Hindu -- thus has Fate conspired to mix me up. However, I don't find that there is anything in Merton's SSM which does not speak across incredible gulfs of difference. Any serious religion is the search for transcendent truth, and Merton's quest is a compelling, beautiful account of an individual's journey along that path. I don't care much at all whether or not he is a great philosopher; I would be willing to pay far more attention to someone who seeks to experience and to know of God directly than I would to listen to the too-many theoretical-philosophical works of a remote and mediocre nature, whose authors cerebrate what they can not feel. There are few great philosophers who can touch us, and Merton may not be one of them. But when I read what he has left for the world, I can't help but feel that I have felt the profound influence of a great MAN, and there aren't too many of those around these days, either.
  
  
• A deep and important autobiography
  By AQYM7Q42F4C87 on 2000-10-24
  Thomas Merton is a profound person, and his personal story reflects his wisdom and keen sense of what is important in life. The book itself is surprisingly easy to read, though at times it seems to contain more detail than I hoped for, particularly in the latter parts of the book. As a non-Catholic, I was not reading this book for specific religious doctrine, but rather as a study of the nature of intensely devoted religious people. I got my money and time's worth.
  
  

• No Man Is an Island
• New Seeds of Contemplation
• Thoughts In Solitude
• A Book of Hours
• Spiritual Direction and Meditation