I Can't Think Straight: Now a a major movie starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth Kindle Edition

To be completely honest, I had a long history with I Can’t Think Straight since well before I read the book. I have literally memorized the movie, that’s how many times I’ve seen it. I used to play it on repeat on Netflix while I was doing homework, or cleaning my room. I found the movie while searching for movies with the lead actress, Lisa Ray, who I’d seen in a couple other movies and I may have a little bit of a celebrity crush on her. I did not expect to find not one but two movies where she and the lovely Sheetal Sheth, play a pair of leading ladies. Both I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen were written and directed by Shamim Sarif, who also wrote the novels. I can’t tell you how entirely jealous it makes me that Sarif not only got to write the books, but actually be the one to make the movies as well. I definitely don’t have the skill set or the ambition to make movies, but serious that would be just awesome. Anyways because of my history with the movie I wasn’t sure how much I would like the book, especially if the book ruined the movie for me (hey it’s happened before). Instead within the first two pages is pulled even further into the lives of the characters than ever before. I cannot put the book down, and devoured it in a single sitting, even though only the odd detail here and there was new to me.It turns out, it’s actually pretty fitting that I watched the movie for I Can’t Think Straight before read the book, since the movie was actually done before most the book. Before cowriting the screenplay Sarif had only written the first draft of the book. I actually learned that since reading the I Can’t Think Straight when I finally got a hold of my own copy of the movies and watched the director’s commentary. However the book was published before the movie was released due to issues the movie had with their financier and things not getting paid.I can’t think straight follows Tala, a Christian Palestinian from Jordan living in London, and Leyla, a Muslim girl of Indian descent from London’s suburbs. Tala is nearing the end of her fourth engagement, and will hopefully this time make it to the altar, when a friend of hers from her first engagement, Ali, brings his girlfriend Layla on a quick visit. Despite initial awkward and overly political conversation, and a fierce tennis battle, the two girls quickly feel drawn to each other both as friends and as something more.Because of the different format and the book we got to see and understand several the characters much better and more fully than in the movie, especially several the supporting characters.. One of Tala’s two younger sisters, Lamia’s character, especially is so much more developed here. I still don’t particularly like her, but here I was able to connect with Lamia much better and she was just a much fuller character.There is one moment from each format that I will definitely find myself missing when a watch either the film or read the book. Both are centered around a fairly minor character Kareem, Tala’s brother-in-law and Lamia’s husband, and his relationship with one or the other of these two women. Neither scene really forwarded the plot a whole lot, but they really help me understand the character a lot better.Because of I Can’t Think Straight’s lesbian romance anyone not interested in LGBT fiction should probably just not even bother. Other readers might want to keep in mind that the characters backgrounds both religiously and culturally put a lot into this book, and it contains several political discussions involving the Middle East, especially relations between Israel and Palestine. It also showcases a lot of tension between Christian Middle Eastern’s and the Jewish and Muslim communities. Not everyone wants to read about these political discussions, especially in the romance novels, but I think they’re definitely really importance discussions that need to be going on and parts of which especially about Christian Middle Eastern errors might not be very common knowledge.

Love the book/film?Come chat about this director's films & books! Search for Shamim Sarif at Yahoo Groups!My partner and I saw the film "I Can't Think Straight" at the recent 2009 Philly Qfest and absolutely loved it. As the DVD was already released in the UK a few months ago, we already owned it, but had not watched it. Since we were attending the film festival already we decided to show our support again. My review for the film under the "I Can't Think Straight/The World Unseen" DVD Pack.Shamim Sarif, the writer and director of ICTS had described the production schedule for her 1st two films and mentioned that the novel was finished after the screenplay was written for ICTS, because they were on a very tight schedule. She said that there were differences, and since we loved the movie, we decided to read the novel. It was absolutely fantastic!!! Since we have seen the movie (ahem, several times), we were able to read the novel to each other, complete with voice inflection of the various characters and had a blast doing so! Most notably there is additional character development in the book that helps you understand the thought process, time and place, family standing, and underlying motivations, which we found very helpful and entertaining.Shamim crafts a beautifully descriptive novel that we were not able to put down, and fans of "Tala" and "Leyla", will enjoy their scenes, which are slightly more detailed in the book. Hani, Reema and Yasmin, in particular are described in fantastic detail, and with poetry and humor in many sections. You may even laugh out loud as we did, during Yasmin and Maya (Leyla's mom), scenes. "Tala" and "Leyla" are also created with many additional levels, as we see what they are actually thinking before we the "scenes" in the film. You will enjoy the backstories of each, and the additional emotion that is conveyed from their dialogue.This story has numerous elements that can applied to many of our coming out stories-unrequited love, some or many unsupportive family members, anguish, longing, and possibly even a happy ending. This novel is an engaging combination of humor and reality, and we laughed throughout. It's a must for all fans of Shamim Sarif's and of course, our two central heroines-Tala and Leyla!Stay updated on Shamim's work by joining her Facebook page,Official website for Englightenment Productions, Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth's FaceBook pages!In addition, 2 fan-created discussion groups also exist for 1) Lisa Ray (visit Yahoo>Groups and search for "LISA_RAY_INTL_FANS" and 2) search for "Shamim Sarif" for the Yahoo froup. Sheetal Sheth also has an existing Yahoo group, and her own website, which you can google.

Shamim Sarif’s novel, I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT, focuses on several issues that are close to my heart: love, friendship, and families. Many of us can relate to these topics on some level, even if the main characters come from different backgrounds.Tala is a Palestinian who lives in London. In the opening pages, she’s preparing for her engagement party. This isn’t the first time she’s been engaged and Tala’s mother and sister fear that she might blow this opportunity again. Tala loves the man she’s engaged to, but feels like something is missing.Leyla, a British Indian woman, is also involved in a relationship with a man. Again, she likes him, but doesn’t feel the spark.When Tala and Leyla meet there’s an attraction, but neither can put their finger on it right away.This is a sweet romance between two women torn between their feelings and family obligations. While their mothers love them, at least I think they do, they also have traditional values. For them, getting married to a man is a fact of life. Both of the mothers care a lot about their traditional values and what others will think. And they want their daughters taken care of. They worry like most mothers.The daughters are free-spirited. They just have to realize it. And act on it. It’s one thing to admit to yourself the truth. It’s a whole new ballgame to proclaim it to the world.This novel takes the reader on an emotional roller-coaster. There’s happiness, love, pain, and loss. What shines through is the beauty of relationships, whether they are romantic, family, or friendly.

I watched the movie based on this book years ago and always wanted to read the novel because the characters had such wonderful on screen chemistry that I wanted to see if it worked the same in the text. It did. Although I think it helped that the director was the author and the producer their partner so the movie was always going to come out as close to the book as possible. Regardless, Shamim Sarif weaves a passionate story of two women trying to find themselves and each other. There is humour, there are tears, there is love. It is quirky and it works. It is lesfic but deftly avoids all the usual almost fan fiction style cliches, and for that, I love it.

This is a delightful romance that's wonderfully written and full of humour. Leyla is a London girl with Indian ancestry, and Tala is from a wealthy Christian family in Jordan with Palestinian origin. The story is very revealing about religion and culture in a way that is serious but often also a source of humour. The book had me laughing out loud frequently.At the start, both women are in denial of their true sexual orientation, Tala getting engaged for the fourth time and Leyla dating also. Their boyfriends are good, honest men, practically perfect, but the women don't feel any passion for them. But then they meet each other, and there is no longer any denying what they feel...I watched the film a year ago and loved it. I have finally got around to reading the book, and my memories of the film are vague enough that the book is full of discovery, but the film certainly influences the way I imagine places and people in the story. I would actually recommend that people watch the film before reading the book, although this is not necessary.Both film and book have their faults, and I almost feel I should take a star from each, but ultimately I enjoyed them so much for so many different reasons that it would be churlish to do so.★★★★★ (Film & Book)

This is the story of Tala and Leyla being true to themselves but also of the others affected by their decisions: the good men who should be the perfect partners for them…it’s just that there’s something missing; their parents (both have ‘difficult’ mothers although Tala’s mother is far more monstrous than Leyla’s!) and their sisters. Tala has two - the ‘stirring’ middle sister with the eating disorder who has given up on passion for the ‘safe’ option and the youngest sister who is rather self-centred and doesn’t see the struggles Tala is having. Leyla’s sister, Yasmin, is a better person and much more supportive than either of Tala’s sisters. She is intuitive and kind but also a scream! One reviewer has mentioned Tala’s family’s housekeeper, Rani, who is, as the reviewer said a great comedic character, but Yasmin has some of the best LOL lines in the book.Wonderful writing, at times touching and at others hysterically funny. Definitely worth my fairly rare 5 star rating.P.S Have seen the film now - good, but the book is better!

I have read this book umpteen times, still get new insights into it. I am sure Shamim Sarif is one of the best writers of lesbian fiction of this time. Always it makes one aware of the cultural differences and forces one to confront them. The physical content is kept to a minimum and long may that be so

I can't believe I've only just discovered this author, and that was by chance when reading a review of another book. This book is so beautifully written it was an absolute joy to read and I immediately bought Ms Sarif's other book, The World Unseen. In fact I bought it when only part way through this book. I have subsequently finished both books, both were excellent, real page turners and difficult to tear oneself away from. I am going to buy her third book as soon as I've finished this sentence.