As I was reading Snow Crash, the most consistently jarring ( as in, taking me out of the story ) aspect was Hiro's swordplay. Though he's the greatest hacker in the world ( both real world and Metaverse ), he's equally proud of being the greatest swordsman. He carries his katanas everywhere, and uses them extensively-- not just in the Metaverse, but the real world. A modern-day samurai, with the emphasis on " modern-day ".

There's obviously a lot of entertainment inherent to the sword fights, and a lot of that is due to romanticizing the sword. Though rendered obsolete by the invention of guns, swords are arguably more attractive, take more skill to use, are more visceral in the way they dispatch foes. Anyone can point a gun and shoot ( hitting the target being more difficult ), but swordsmanship is a difficult skill, even an art. No wonder they remain popular in fiction, despite being much rarer in the real world.

This all ties perfectly into Hiro's identity; one, in terms of a skill that he would want to practice ( he defines himself by mastering complex tasks, either hacking or swordplay ), two, in terms of ethnic identity ( the Japanese/Nipponese aspects of his background are symbolized in the way he carries his swords with him everywhere ), and three, just as an expression of maschismo. It's all well and good, but that doesn't change the fact that this is not Fuedal Japan, this is a Cyberpunk future where firearms are everywhere. I can get him using his swords in the virtual world, but in reality? Where he's surrounded by enemies with guns? Where sticking around to cut people up would logically make him a huge target and resultantly get him filled with lead?

Of course, there's a lot of this " Rule of Cool " stuff in Snow Crash, things like rocketboards and supersonic cyborg attack dogs and what not, but this is particularly frustrating.