Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful autobiography
Review: This was my first real "conversion story" that I've read, and I'm sure it will be one of the best I'll ever read. After spending many years in the darkness of sin, Thomas converted to Catholicism and ultimately, a Trappist monastery. His story was really inspirational, and has nurtured my possible vocation to the Trappist life. This book would be a great read for ALL kinds of people: senior citizens, atheists, Catholics, and Protestants.
Rating:
Summary: A journey of faith
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Give him points for zeal, but he glorifies selfishness
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A deep and important autobiography
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the most well-known book by an American monk...
Review: Even for a non-Catholic agnostic kind of person, this book was a near life-changing event. Having read Merton's work on Eastern things (Chuang-tzu, etc.) I came to this book with an open mind. What I found in reading it was a story of a child of the early nineteen forties who turned toward God. He was actually a classmate at Columbia (or a near contemporary) of Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg..... and they ended up trying to find salvation in a similar, but different manner.... It's a wholly worthwhile book for anyone to read though for some I could imagine the section after his conversion (which would strike many of his readers as the most profound section of the book) could end up being a bit tiresome....
Rating: 
Summary: Puzzled By All The Acclaim
Review: I am a catholic, and after many years I finally read this book. Frankly, I am disappointed. Were it not for the wonderful introduction by Robert Giroux, the reader would not have learned of Merton's fathering of an illegimate child. Merton does not discuss this in the book. How then can anyone seriously compare this with St. Augustine's Confessions? I wanted to learn about the monks, who they were, where they came from, and why they entered the monastery. Their backgrounds would have been very interesting, but Merton gives us none of this. I found the spiritual passages too simplistic, like my catholic grammar school catechism.
Rating:
Summary: It will touch you, in many ways.
Review: I recommend this book (especially) to those discerning a religious (monastic) vocation. It is excellent. No more needs to be said, buy this book NOW and you'll never regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Spiritual Medicine
Review: This powerful book chronicles Merton's childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood and his quest for spirituality. Although written from a Roman Catholic perspective, Merton's book is relevant for any reader on a spiritual journey, Christian or non. The book is never dry -- indeed it is well written, candid, colorful and deeply introspective -- as relevant to this new millenium as it was to the decade of the 1950's during which it was written. To read Merton's Seven Storey Mountain is to live his quest for God with him. One cannot help but to take lasting truth from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Depth of wonder
Review: Thomas Merton stands as one of the greatest figures ever produced by the contemplative stream of Christianity. The Seven Storey Mountain is the story of how he came to faith and the depth of wonder he found there. Set in the first half of the twentieth century, The Seven Storey Mountain follows Merton from his childhood on until his entry into a monastery in Kentucky. I was moved by many of the details of Merton's early life: the loss of his mother, his relationship with his father, and his adventures in education. Merton skillfully lays out the background of these events. Time and again, the common humanity of Merton shines through across barriers of time, place, and experience. This Book is a masterpiece. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: godly
Review: i have read this book twice in my twenties, and as a jew, i was still swept away by merton's embrace of the spiritual life, and the calling of the church that led him on his quest for a more meaningful existence. how powerful is this book? i will cite an anecdote. at a library of congress talk on american writers by literary critic alfred kazin in 1980, he asked the audience of several hundred rapt listeners a simple question: "what is your favorite book?" he posed this question to 10 random people. two answered, "seven storey mountain." i found this remarkable. as is this memoir that is priceless, timeless, and transcendental in its honest search for truth and piety.
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