I'm like Bryan and agree that it's only the interface between the E and G space that is complicated.
My approach uses 3-152 (similar to Bryan's 3-512), which I think came from one of Rod Machado's books. 3-152 covers almost everything. Class E (below 10,000), nighttime G, Class C, and Class D.
With that in mind, all I memorized is "
3-152 with 3 exception, plus 5-111".
The exceptions, really variations, are 3-COC, 1-152, and 1-COC. The 3-
COC is for B, the
1-152 is for "high G" (>1200 AGL), and the 1-
COC is for "low G" (< 1200 AGL). The 5-111 is for flight at or above 10,000 MSL. You don't even have to memorize the exceptions if you remember the "why".
I'm not sure they're technically correct, but these are my "why"s for each little variation from 3-152:
3-COC - In B, you only need be COC because ATC has all aircraft under positive control and they're maintaining separation. You don't need to be on high alert of somebody popping out so you can be at the edges of the clouds.
1-152 - In high G (>1200 AGL), you shouldn't encounter any IFR aircraft at all since it's uncontrolled airspace, so the visibility requirements are reduced from 3 miles to 1 mile.
1-COC - In low G (< 1200 AGL), the cloud clearances are just COC like Bravo, but not because there's ATC involvement, but rather because there's not much other traffic at those levels to there's not much risk provided that you stay out of the clouds.
And, lastly, above 10,000 MSL, the VFR requirements are expanded to 5-111 because of the presence of fast IFR traffic.
For what it's worth, here are a few pages from my PDF notebook from my student days:
Student Notes re Airspace