What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table

Question

Is this sentence from a translation Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons grammatically correct?

What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.

The how I should like part sounds a bit non-English to me.

Answer 1

This usage of how I should like sounds slightly archaic to a native ear; it belongs more in verse or oratory than in casual speech. It's basically used to mean "I would really like."

Compare, for example, a quote from Pope Francis: "Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor." This could be rephrased as "I would like a poor Church that is for the poor."

The only thing that needs fixing in your sentence is the comma splice. The comma should be either a semicolon or a period.

Answer 2

It's correct, although such usage is a bit out-dated.

I should like = I would like