Later in life, Merton's perspectives on his work in "The Seven Storey Mountain" had changed. In "The Sign of Jonas", published in 1953, Merton says that ""The Seven Storey Mountain" is the work of a man I have never even heard of." Merton also penned an introduction to a 1966 Japanese edition of "The Seven Storey Mountain", saying "Perhaps if I were to attempt this book today, it would be written differently. Who knows? But it was written when I was still quite young, and that is the way it remains. The story no longer belongs to me..."